The Ties That Bind
by James Harper
Summary: Shortly after Jubilee's death, Logan gets wind that Laura, his clone/daughter, is in trouble. He sets off to rescue her, along with a few familliar faces. Rated M for language, action, and probable sexual content later on...
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"Hey there, Sparkplug." said the short man in the cowboy hat. "Long time no see."

He stood at the foot of a grave, staring up at the white headstone. There were twenty nine nearly identical headstones in the private family cemetery. They all had on feature in common, besides their size and color. Above the name engraved in the white stone there was a circle with the letter X bisecting it, signifying which family they belonged to. The particular headstone that the short man stood in front of was marked "Jubilee". Like the other headstones, this one was engraved with the nickname of it's owner. The body of Jubilation Lee had been buried where her family had wished, but "Jubilee" had come home to the Xavier Institute.

No bodies would be found in the Xavier's cemetery. Nothing was buried at all. Only a headstone errected to lost family, and whatever memories visitors brought with them.

"I've missed ya, kiddo. It ain't the same around here without ya." the short man said, his voice hoarse, barely carrying on the cold wind that blew around him. "Everything's...different. Changed."

He shuffled his feet in the mounting snow, his hands jammed in his pockets. He spoke around the half burned cigar clenched between his teeth.

"So many of us gone. At first it was us old dogs. Then some o' the younger ones." he sighed roughly. "I never thought I'd be our here talkin' to you, though."

The short man caught a scent on the wind, and smiled to himself. His voice caught in his throat for a moment and the pain threatened to overwhelm him. He heard the crunch of heavy boots behind him, and the lighter whispering of an uneven scampering gait alongside them. The two men who owned the footsteps came to a stop on either side of the short man. They both were taller than he was, but one of them much more so. At a lithe 5'9" and a massive 7'5", they both made the short man's stocky 5'3" very obvious.

"Lookit that, Sparkplug. All the big dogs are comin' home ta see ya off." the short man said.

"Hello, my bright light. It is good to see you again." said the thin man, his German accent thick."Are you vatching over our resident Hairball?"

The short man snorted and glanced at the German. The man's bright yellow eyes shone brightly in the overcast light. His dark blue fur was showing more today, what with the snowflakes sticking to it. He smiled a fanged smile at the short man.

"Look who's talkin', Elf." he growled, though a smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

The Elf placed a three fingered hand on the Hairball's shoulder.

"It's good to see you, as vell, Logan." the Elf said, giving his friend's shoulder a squeeze.

The taller man placed a massive hand on the Hairball's other shoulder, and squeezed lightly as well.

"Good ta see ya too, Elf." said the Hairball. "You too, Tin Man."

The massive Russian just smiled grimly and nodded. Logan, the Hairball, the X-Man known as Wolverine, turned back to the grave. He stood there in silence for a long moment before he found his voice.

"We miss ya, kiddo." he said, a single tear rolling down his cheek until it froze there. "I know I sure as hell do."

The furry Elf silently mouthed the words to the Lord's prayer, and then made the sign of the cross.

"Come, mein freund." he said, clapping Logan on the shoulder. "Let us go see if Scott has thrown out all ze beer in ze school since you've been out here. We may vell be able to kill a few brain cells before he convinces everyone of ze wickedness of alcohol."

With that, they turned and walked slowly towards the school that had become their home.


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

**Xavier's School for Gifted Children, December 6th, 2304 hours**

"Shaddup, Elf. I don't believe a word of it." Logan said, blowing out a lungfull of cigar smoke.

"No! It's true, I swear! He vas standing zere vearing nothing but his boots!" Kurt said, slapping his three fingered hand down on the table. "And that poor kitten just held in front of his-"

"Ah, Tovarisch. I think he knows where the kitten was held..." Piotr interrupted, blushing a bright red.

"That ain't right, Petey. Pretty sure that's animal abuse. Probably scared the poor thing half ta death." Logan chuckled, taking a long swallow of the beer in his hand.

Logan, Kurt, and Piotr sat around the island in the school's main kitchen, drinking Molson Canadian, Paulaner Salvator, and Baltika 9, respectively. Two open pizza boxes sat on the island, and three more were crumpled in the trash can. They had the room to themselves, by some miracle of the unspoken rules of grief. The students and the other instructors were avoiding the kitchen, and for that Logan was grateful.

"Look, guys, I...I really appreciate ya comin' back." he said softly. "I know you'd've come back anyway, but I appreciate ya bein' here for me. I needed this."

Kurt smiled gently, folding his hands on the table.

"It's true, we vouldn't have missed seeing her off on her journey for ze world. But it is also true zat we are here for you, Logan." he said. "We are your friends, and as such we vill be here vhenever you call."

"So we will." Piotr nodded his agreement.

Logan smiled and stared at the brown bottle in his hands, remembering a night many years ago when he'd caught the rookie Jubilee sneaking his beers out of the kitchen. He'd pretended not to see her, and let her make off with the whole six pack. The next morning he'd made sure he ran her extra hard in the Danger Room. She never snuck another beer...

"Ah...Logan, I'm sorry but-" Kurt began.

"It's okay, Kurt. She was murdered." Logan said softly, cutting him off. "Random mugging, and she got shot tryin' ta save one of her friends. After she was depowered, she hooked up with a bunch o' other kids like that. They used technology ta get some kinda powers back. I hear they were doin' good, too. Then one night, bam. Outta nowhere she just gets shot."

Logan went silent for a while, and neither of the other men seemed willing to break the silence. After a long pause, Logan spoke again.

"She was a hero, and she gets taken down by a fuckin' mugger. She helped us save the world, Pete. Ya know?" he asked, not really looking for an answer. "She was one o' the best of us, and she got shot, still bein' a hero, and now she's...she's dead."

For the second time that day, tears ran down his face.

"Don't make no kinda sense." he muttered.

"Of course it does, Logan." Kurt said, his face contemplative. "You just said it yourself. She vas a hero. She's always been a hero. She died trying to save someone she cared about."

"Da. How much more heroic can one be?" Piotr asked.

Logan blinked at the two men, looking from one to the other.

"Ya know, the more I drink, the smarter you two get." he said, smiling tightly as he wiped the tears from his face. "To Jubes?"

Kurt nodded and banged his fist on the table as he raised his beer bottle.

"Now you are making sense! To Jubilee. May the good Lord welcome her into his mall in the sky, and may her rollerblades keep her one step ahead of the angels who chase her."

Piotr laughed and raised his bottle as well.

"To Jubilee." he said simply.

Logan raised his bottle and smiled.

"Yeah. Ta Jubes." he said, and finished off the beer.

End of Chapter One


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

**Xavier's School for Gifted Children, December 7th, 0732 hours**

Logan rolled over as he woke up and pushed himself into a sitting position. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, yawning. He, Kurt, and Piotr had managed to get thouroughly smashed the night before, but thanks to his healing factor the alcohol had just helped to put him into a dreamless sleep, and then had been eliminated.

'Thank God I can't get a hangover.' he though to himself as he glanced around the room.

Piotr was all kinds of sprawled out in the love seat next to the couch Logan occupied. Kurt was curled up on the back of the couch, like a giant blue cat. Logan chuckled and exited the room quietly, leaving his two companions snoring softly.

He made his way back to the kitchen, passing a few students in the hall, and busied himself with clearing away the many bottles that covered almost every level surface in the room. The clinking of glass and tinking of metal filled the air as he cleaned, and was only interrupted by the arrival of a platinum haired goddess.

"Good morning, Logan." she said, as she breezed into the room.

"Hey, 'Ro." he said, leaning against the counter. "How are ya this mornin'?"

Ororo Munroe, the weather manipulating Storm, smiled, her face lighting up. She came and sat on one of the high stools around the island.

"Very well, thank you." she said, gesturing to the bottles about the room. "Apparently not as good as you are. Frankly, I'm surprised you can stand up."

Logan chuckled and cleared away the last of the bottles, dropping them into the trash can. He enjoyed being up early enough to talk to her every day. She was one of the few people in the mansion that didn't take herself too seriously, which was a nice change of pace.

"Kurt and Pete helped. They got in yesterday afternoon." he said.

"Ah. Well that explains it." she smiled. "I suppose that I should expect them awake in about a week?"

Logan grinned. He moved over to the coffee maker, which had been set to do it's thing the night before. He grabbed two coffee cups from the cupboard, and poured them each a mug of the hot hazelnut flavored brew. He slid hers over to her, and sat down across from her.

"Yeah. Probably about then. Maybe six days if you yell at them a lot." he said, taking a sip.

She nodded.

"Ah. I'll make sure to free up some time in Sean's schedule for that." she said.

He smirked.

"So what are you up to today?"

She shrugged, sipping her own coffee.

"I thought I'd head into the city. Maybe do some Christmas shopping. I've got to get some more Christmas cards." she said. "Oh! That reminds me."

She reached into the back pocket of her jeans, and pulled out a thin white envelope and handed it to him.

"I found this on the floor outside my room, but it's got your name on it." she said.

Logan took the envelope, and turned it over in his hands. He could tell from the feel that it held one single sheet of paper. It smelled like 'Ro, but nothing else. Indeed, his name was printed in a spidery scrawl across the front of the envelope. He tore one end of the envelope open, and slid the sheet of paper out. He unfolded it and and held it by the edges of the page, years of training kicking in without him even noticing. He read the words written on the page in the same spidery scrawl out loud.

"Your daughter is in danger. Come quickly or she may be lost forever. 11814 Blackwell Road, Los Angeles, California." he said, staring at the paper for a long moment.

"What does it mean?" she asked, leaning over to look at the paper, which he lay flat on the counter.

"No idea." he muttered, thinking. "Only daughters I can come up with are Jubes, who's napping out back, Kitty, who I passed on the way here, and Laura. Maybe she's mixed up in somethin' nasty."

"Do you think it's about her?"

"Well, last I heard from her she was in San Diego with the Keller kid, who's from Beverly Hills, if I ain't mistaken. Could be they took a trip home and got inta somethin' bad." he said. "Wouldn't be the first time fer that girl. Look who she's got ta learn from."

Ororo smiled and put her hand over his.

"You're not that bad an influence, Logan." she said. "Unfortunately, you don't always make the best of choices.I can already see the plan forming in your head. What do you need?"

"Nothin' yet, darlin'. Just thinkin' on maybe takin' an afternoon flight out there ta check on the kids. If I can check in on them without them knowin' maybe they can finish their vacation in peace." he said. "Me, Kurt, and Petey have some catchin' up ta do. Maybe we'll grab a Raiders game while we're in the area."

He went to pull away but she held his hand fast and gave him a look.

"And you'll let us know if you find anything? You'll call for help if you need it?"

Logan rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Yes, mother. I promise I won't get the younger boys in trouble." he said, chuckling, as she released his hand.

"Good. I'll let Scott know that you three will be leaving shortly." she said, nodding as she stood. "I'd love to see the look on Emma's face when he tells her you're using your expense account to fly across the country for a football game."

"Aw, come on, 'Ro. You know me better'n that." he said, grinning. "We'll just take the Blackbird."

"Oh dear Lord." she muttered as she left the kitchen.


	4. Chapter Three

**Knight Time Investigations, Los Angeles, California, 1549 hours**

Liam Newil Dijol-Kynde sat at his desk, staring at his computer screen. He watched page after page of numbers go by, controlled by the scroll button on his mouse. He was going over several months' worth of financial records for a company that he couldn't actually find. Every once in a while he'd find an anomaly and highlight it red for later inspection.

The client, some unnamed billionaire had hired Knight Time Investigations to look into the affairs of the company. Evidently he suspected illegal activity, and fancied himself some sort of do-gooder. Liam hadn't been told who the client was, but evidently he was in good with the boss, Joseph Knight, and with the money that the old man was throwing around, Liam wasn't about to argue.

The company was called Burgeon Imports, and seemed to be run by a Chief Elle Blur, but as far as he could tell, she didn't exist beyond his computer screen. Her passport, birth certificate, driver's license, even her business degrees…they all lead to dead ends. All of them led to clerks who had no record of issuing the documents, or to colleges that were no longer accepting applications, and whose phones were no longer connected. For all intents and purposes, she was a ghost.

And the company, Burgeon Imports, didn't seem to do anything. Their shipping and receiving records, customer invoices, payroll files, and IRS forms were all impeccable, but harbor and air freight records didn't match up. Money came in and went out, but where it came from and where it went was somewhat of a mystery. He'd already ruled out government involvement, as well as any ties to the Italian, Eastern European, South American, or Yakuza style organized crime groups in the city. Something was definitely fishy.

Liam sighed, and rubbed his eyes. He hated financial records. He was better with people. Interviews. He always had been. He could weasel a confession of adultery out of the Pope, but put him in a room with a list of numbers and he'd procrastinate all day if he could.

He leaned back in his chair and sighed. He supposed he could start the interview process. Through some less than clean contacts he'd managed to get a short list of shareholders in the company, and the list was one of the more perplexing things about the case. He'd expected more of the same run around he'd gotten with Elle Blur, but had actually come up with real people. The only problem was that the real people were a veritable who's who of the upper crust Bel Air, Holmby Hills, and Beverly Hills crowds. They all owned primary properties in or around California's "Platinum Triangle", and were all close to as rich as the mystery client that Liam was working for. It made it sort of difficult to interview people pertinent to the case when he had to schedule a meeting with their security teams and PR people first.

His phone rang, interrupting his currently stationary train of thought. He hit the intercom button.

"What's up, Jessie?" he asked the office secretary.

"Your boyfriend's on line three." She said.

He could almost hear the smirk in her voice as she said boyfriend. Just because he was single and lived with three gay men and a lesbian, she assumed he was gay, despite his protestations. Whenever one of his roommates called, she referred to them as "your boyfriend", regardless of the caller's gender.

"Yeah, put 'em through." Liam sighed, picking up the receiver, and pressing the line three button. "Knight Time Investigations, this is Liam Kynde."

"Hey, there, sweetheart. Jessie givin' ya crap again?" the high voice came over the line.

"Hey, Kev. Is it that obvious? She never lays off, that one. What's up?"

"I was just calling ta ask if you'll swing by and grab some mozzarella on the way home. I'm making lasagna for dinner. Looks like just you, me, and Bex." Kevin Cooper said. "Jon and Tony are out for their anniversary date."

Bex was their female LAPD SWAT officer housemate, Rebecca Langstrom. Along with Kevin, a firefighter, Jon Dyer and Tony Garza, both paramedics, she shared Liam's house. The old style Victorian house had been left to Liam by his parents, when they retired and moved to Ireland to "explore their heritage", as they put it. He'd been unable to keep up with the housework or property taxes, and so had taken on housemates. After several disastrous attempts at finding compatible housemates, he'd found Kevin, who brought in Jon, his cousin, and Jon's lover Tony. Rebecca had come later on, after being kicked out of her parent's house for her sexual preference. Kevin had dubbed the house the "Alternative Lifestyle Abode". He still hadn't explained what Liam's "alternative lifestyle" was, but he really didn't need to.

Liam was a mutant. He had the ability to form and fire telekinetic blasts from his hands. When he concentrated, he could form loose masses of energy in his hands. Kevin, the only person he'd told about his ability, had described it as psychic spaghetti. Lots of flexible strands of telekinetic energy, he'd called it. Liam wasn't going to argue. He didn't know how to even begin to describe it. It was an unspoken fact in the house. Kevin knew, but Jon, Tony, and Bex were all in the dark, as far as Liam knew. They'd never given him any indication that they knew anything, and Jon couldn't lie to save his life, so Liam figured his secret was pretty safe.

"Yeah, I'll swing by Parker's and get some. Drinks too?"

"Um….no. We're good. Just the cheese." Kevin said.

"Okay, sure. I should be leaving here in about an hour or so."

"Okay, sweetie. See you in a bit."

"Yeah bye, Kev."

Kevin hung up without saying goodbye, as they all did. Something about working in the emergency services world made phone manners not so important. The only reason Liam was in the habit was that in his line of work he had to get people to talk, without being able to wave a badge around. Phone manners helped more than most people thought.

He turned back to the computer, and bookmarked his place. He'd come back to the financial records tomorrow. Right now he needed someone to interact with, even if it was a sleazy PR agent who would fight tooth and nail to keep him out of their client's business.

For once that day, things were looking up. He smiled as he picked up the phone.


	5. Chapter Four

**Shelly's Diner, Los Angeles, California, December 7****th****, 2319 hours**

Logan sighed contentedly as he gazed around the diner's floor. It was a nice to have something to do. He'd been going stir crazy back at the mansion, locked up with the kids. It usually wasn't so bad, but recent ghosts had joined forces with the ones that usually haunted his thoughts and dreams. It was making him a bit squirrely. He was glad that he had something to hunt again.

The only thing he regretted was actually flying commercial. He'd have loved to see Scott and Emma's face when they discovered the Blackbird missing.

"So, who are we waiting for, Logan?" Kurt asked, sipping his milkshake, looking slightly out of place in his priestly guise.

The image inducer on Kurt's belt made him appear as a thin, blonde man, wearing a priest's suit. He hadn't had time to properly alter the image on the flight over, and so he still wore what he'd worn in Chicago, where he'd been living when news of Jubilee's death reached him.

"Old friend, Elf. Old friend from a long time ago." Logan said, sighing. "Someone who may have some info about why we're here."

Peter snorted, glancing down across the table at Logan.

"Well, that wasn't cryptic." The Russian muttered, looking even more out of place, squeezed into the booth with the other two men.

Logan scowled up at his towering friend, but smirked.

"Natasha Romanoff. I called her on the plane. She's out here doin' some work fer S.H.I.E.L.D. and said she'd look into it." He said. "She's meeting us fer dinner."

"Ah, I don't believe I've ever had the pleasure of her introduction." Kurt said, smiling. "It's always nice to get out and meet new heroes."

Logan chuckled, and raised a hand into the air as he saw Natasha walk into the diner. Her red dress made her stand out more than any of the three men at the table. It was close fitting, simple, and covered her down to her ankles, while revealing a generous amount of cleavage. Logan didn't miss the quick slide that Peter did to make room for her next to him. Things with him and Kitty weren't exactly smooth sailing at the moment, evidently, and he wasn't wasting any time fishing for the next catch.

It didn't bother Logan. As much as he wanted to protect the kids that he chose as his own, like Kitty, Laura, and Jubes, God rest her, he had learned many years ago that sometimes kids just had to make their own mistakes. Him hovering over Peter all those years ago when he'd started dating Kitty hadn't done anyone any favors, and so he'd stopped, and had eventually befriended the young man.

"Logan, it's nice to see you again." She said, her accent noticeably thicker than Peter's.

"'Tasha. This is Kurt, and that mountain' o' muscle is Peter." Logan said, gesturing to each of his friends in turn.

"Guten abend, fraulein. It's a pleasure." Kurt said, giving her a toothy grin. "As Herr Logan pointed out, I am Kurt, the Amazing Nightcrawler."

"Da. Dobry vecher." Peter said softly. "Uh, Colossus."

"Right, right. You're gorgeous tonight, and this lunk has a crush on ya. Can we get on with it?" Logan asked. "How are ya, kid?"

Natasha smiled a brilliant smile, and slid into the seat next to Peter, who blushed so red he almost matched her dress.

"I'm fine, thank you, Logan. I had a party tonight, where I had to hang on a senator all night." She said, rolling her eyes. "American politicians are so boring."

The waitress came by the table again, a teenage girl with purple hair, a nametag that read "Raven", and far too many facial piercings for anyone's taste. She stood there impatiently for a moment, pencil poised over her notepad, and raised her eyebrows at Natasha.

"Drink? Food? What?" she asked.

"I'll have a Coke and some cheese fries, please." Natasha said. "To go."

"Raven" rolled her eyes and walked off to put the order in.

"What interesting company you keep these days, Logan." Natasha giggled.

"What's the word, 'Tash?" Logan asked. "How's Fury?"

Natasha primly folded her napkin in her lap, and made a slightly offended face.

"Grumpy as ever. His cigars are stinking up the entire helicarrier these days." She said, only smiling slightly. "I see you aren't smoking. That's good. It isn't good for you."

"Yeah. Chuckles won't let me smoke in the mansion, so I've had ta cut back." He said, patting his chest pocket. "But I plan on catching up on this trip."

Natasha rolled her eyes. Raven came back with the fries and Coke. Natasha smiled and took them, standing up from the table.

"Well, gentlemen, it was a pleasure. Kurt, Peter, so nice to meet you. Logan, don't call me next time you're coming into town. Look up Steve or something." She said, turning and walking out the door.

Peter and Kurt looked at each other for a moment, and then turned to Logan.

"That was your informant? She didn't tell you anything." Peter said. "Not that I'm complaining. Maybe she could come tell you some more nothing. I won't argue."

Logan smirked again and took a long drink of his Coke.

"Check the underside of the table next to you, Pete." He said.

Peter gave him a suspicious look.

"Is this going to end with chewed gum on my fingers, because I don't find it as amusing as you do."

"Just do it, Tin Man."

Peter felt along the underside of the table, and with a tearing sound he removed a large manila envelope that was taped there. He gave Logan a shocked look.

"How did she do that?" Peter asked. "I didn't even see her place it, and she was right next to me."

Logan took the envelope and stuffed it into his jacket.

"Come on, let's get back ta the hotel so we can open it."

He threw down two twenties on the table, and the three men stood to leave. As they pushed through the door, Kurt turned to Peter.

"I'm more interested in where she was hiding it when she walked in."


	6. Chapter Five

**Premier Suite, Beverly Hills Four Seasons**

**Los Angeles, California**

**December 8****th**** 0057 hours**

Logan frowned down at the dining table in front of him. Piotr stood across from him, his massive arms folded across his chest, also frowning. Kurt crouched, perched on his two toed feet on the edge of the massive slab of oak, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"So, she passed you the information from Nick Fury? Since vhen does the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. get involved in your personal business?" he asked.

"Since we saved each other's asses more times than we can count, in more wars than either of us care ta remember." Logan said. "Now we pay each other back in favors. Say he needs something investigated outside S.H.I.E.L.D.'s prerogative, he calls me. I need information that the X-Men can't get, I call him."

He sighed and placed his hands on the table, leaning over the photographs that had begun to fade as soon as he'd pulled them out of the envelope. The pages of text were heavily blacked out, but Logan got the gist of their information. An MP3 player sat among the pages, and Logan was sure that it'd erase itself after being played a single time. Fury was paranoid about his information.

"From what I can tell, we're looking at kidnappers, da?" Piotr asked, pointing at two photos of armored troopers dragging a young male mutant with flaming red hair into a van.

The kid's hair was literally made of fire. He was resisting, and the blaze on his skull burned brightly, even though the picture was fading.

"Yeah. The pictures and what little there is on the pages, tells me a story about some very well funded, very well trained people, kidnapping whatever metahumans they can get their greedy little hands on." Logan said softly. "I can't tell why, though."

Kurt gestured at the MP3 player.

"Perhaps we should have a listen. See vhat Colonel Fury has to say." He suggested.

Logan nodded, and Kurt pressed the play button on the small silver device. Nick Fury's voice spoke through the speaker. All three men leaned closer to listen.

"I heard you were looking for something, so I thought I'd put my ear to the ground, see what I heard." Fury said without preamble. "Turns out there's a group. Taking special things selling them to private collectors. Don't know who's behind it, and can't say where their money's coming from or going to."

Fury paused, let out a long breath.

"Still smokin' those cheap stogies." Logan said, almost smiling around the one clenched in his teeth.

"They've got what you're looking for. Holding it until they can find the right buyer. It's a troublesome little piece, though." Fury said. "Go have a drink. Try the dives. You'll find it. And you now owe me a case of these."

The MP3 player beeped, clicked, and sparked. It was now useless.

"Well, that helps." Logan said, smiling.

Kurt and Peter just stared at him for a long moment.

"Everything said between me and 'Tasha, and everything Fury just said was in code. Spy talk." He said. "I'll translate."

"'Tasha had a party, which means she was working. Hanging on a senator means she was tracking him. American politicians being boring means the US government isn't running it. We're looking at a private operation."

"I keep interesting company, so she approves of you two being here. I'm gonna need help. Means this thing is big. Probably rich people running it."

"Fury's grumpy, and smoking more than normal. Means he's stressed. He obviously sees what's going on, and can't do anything about it. He said he didn't know who's involved, and can't say where the money's coming from, which means that the government is probably funding the group. They aren't running the show, but they're involved. Those in charge are rich, but if they can have the Feds pay for it, why spend their own fortune, right?"

"'Tasha said I shouldn't call her, and I should look up Steve. Captain America. The three of us used to work together, years ago. It means the people in charge are an international group. Mostly American, since she mentioned Steve, but there's others."

Kurt nodded slowly.

"I begin to understand, I think. We're dealing with something along the lines of an Illuminati group. Very rich, very powerful, global influence."

Logan pointed to one of the pictures, one of the troopers.

"Exactly, and look here. This guy's outfitted in very specific equipment. Only people in the world who use this specific tech are Weapon Plus." He said. "Since we know that Weapon Plus is outta commission, I think it's safe ta assume that the mystery group behind all this is recruiting former Weapon Plus personnel. Which explains why they were able to kidnap Laura and Keller without raising a fuss."

All three men were silent for several long moments. The implications of what was going on were thick in the air.

"So…vhat do ve do now?" Kurt asked.

Logan smiled, and it wasn't a pleasant sight.

"Tomorrow night we start hitting the dives, asking questions, getting answers." He said.

Piotr groaned.

"Why do I get the feeling that this hitting is more literal than metaphorical?" he asked.


	7. Chapter Six

**Chapter Seven**

**The Dive**

**Los Angeles, California**

**December 9th, 0145 hours**

Logan, Kurt, and Piotr slipped quietly into the alley behind the bar. The large Russian moved very quietly for someone of his size, Logan was a former spy, and Kurt fairly disappeared into the shadows, even with the image inducer on. Raised voices and the scent of Julian Keller had lured them back into the darkness, after they'd left the building. They'd given up on "The Dive" as too obvious a place to start after two hours of sitting inside and watching people come and go.

Logan motioned for the other two men to stop and stay where they were, as he crept closer to the corner that would reveal him to the two men arguing. One of them had Keller's scent on him like he was hugging the kid, though it was mixed in with the scents of stale beer, marijuana smoke, and sweat. The other man smelled completely average.

Logan listened, though he didn't have to do much to hear their conversation. They were arguing about price, and after several minutes of bickering, the seller handed over a small Ziploc bag of weed. The other man took off, and Logan stepped around the corner to confront the dealer.

"I don't like the way you smell." Logan growled.

The dealer turned quickly, and Logan caught sight of a snub nosed .38 revolver in the man's waistband. The young man sneered at Logan, and spat on the ground, shoving some cash into the pocket of Keller's coat.

"What the fuck do I care? Get lost, man." He said.

"I think that jacket looks like shit on you, too. Fits all wrong." Logan said, taking a step closer.

He heard Piotr slip just to the edge of the corner, and smelled the telltale scent of brimstone that said Kurt had 'ported to a more strategic location.

"Look, fuck off, bro. If you ain't buying, get lost. I'm trying to do some business here." The dealer said, making shooing motions.

"Where's the kid who belongs to your jacket, bro?" Logan asked, taking another step closer.

He could feel his claws, just millimeters below his skin, aching to be released.

"I said, go the fuck away. What are you, deaf? Huh? A cop?" the man asked, stepping in Logan's direction.

"Nah. I ain't a cop. I'm a friend of the kid who owns that jacket. And now? Right about now I'm tired of talking." He said, moving with surprising speed.

He swung, and punched the man in the jaw, though he did pull it a bit. The man spun around with the force of the blow, though he could evidently take a punch quite well, since he stumbled once, and started running down the alley, away from Logan. Kurt appeared in a puff of purple smoke, his usual furry self, and grinned demonically at the man as he skidded to a stop.

"I don't think you vant to be going this vay. Dangerous things this direction." He said, whipping his tail back and forth.

"Fuck!" the man muttered, as he turned around, tearing towards Logan, and pulling out the pistol he had.

Six shots rang out, three of them hitting Logan in the chest. He grimaced with pain, and went to his knees. Sure, he'd heal. But it still hurt like a bitch. Piotr stepped around the corner, cracking the pavement with each step. He'd armored up, and now stood 7'4" tall, gleaming in the dim light.

"Not this way either, comrade. Stay, chat for a while." He said, flexing massive hands into fists.

The man's eyes went wide, and he tried firing again as he backed away, only to find that his weapon was empty. Logan took several long moments to regain his feet, and then he stared at the man. The look on his face wasn't a friendly one. He growled, deep in his chest, and unleashed his claws. Two quick swipes and the man's weapon fell to the ground, chunks of useless metal, along with three fingers. Logan gripped the jacket, and slammed the now sobbing man against the wall.

"Now, I want you to listen closely." Logan snarled, shaking the dealer. "You're going to tell me how you got that jacket, and I'm going to let you live. There is no second option, understand?"

The man nodded, tears streaming down his face.

"Yeah yeah yeah. Whatever you want. Whatever you want." He cried.

"Good. Where did you get this jacket?" Logan asked.

"My boss. My boss gave it to me. Sometimes he does that." The man babbled. "Gives us stuff when he gives us the drugs. I swear I don't know where he gets the stuff. I swear. Please."

"Good. Good. We're making progress now. Tell me where to find your boss. What's his name?"

The man hesitated. Logan could tell that he was weighing whether his boss was more dangerous than the angry mutant in front of him. A quick punch to the ribs answered that question. Logan felt several glass vials inside the jacket fracture.

"Okay. Okay, please. His name is Porter. He stays over on Blackwell Road. North side of town. It's the blue house at the end of the street." The man said, clawing at the jacket, trying to take it off. "Lemme go. Lemme go, man!"

Logan released the man, though he didn't step away. As he watched, the dealer ripped the jacket off his body, and threw it to the ground. It was quickly followed by his shirt. A dark liquid clung to his skin, and he wiped at it, slinging it to the ground. He pulled off his beanie hat and used it to frantically wipe his skin as well.

"What the hell are you doing?" Logan asked.

"I gotta get it off! You don't understand! It's toxic to humans! Help me get it off!" he shouted.

Kurt stepped up, pulling off his own jacket.

"Ah, Logan?"

"Yeah, go ahead, Elf."

Kurt offered the man his jacket, and the man grabbed it, though he was moving more slowly than before. He used the jacket to wipe the same spot on his stomach over and over again.

"It's too late…too late. You fuckin' killed me. Ah…you fuckin' son of a bitch." The dealer choked out as he doubled over in pain, and then hit his knees.

He began convulsing in agony, as the slight dark stain on his skin turned darker, and began to burn. Kurt moved towards the man, but Logan stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"No. Don't touch him. Whatever's on him…he said it's toxic to humans. We don't know what it'd do to us." Logan said.

"But ve can't just let him die in pain like zis." Kurt said.

"Kurt, don't." Logan said, pushing the thinner man away.

He retracted his claws, knelt down, and held the man's head in his hands.

"Hey. Hey! How do I stop this?" he asked, slapping the man's cheek to get his attention.

"You…you can't. It's done." The dealer whispered, his face drawn tight. "Fuck. It burns. It burns so bad."

Logan sighed, and looked over his shoulder at Kurt.

"Turn away, Elf."

Kurt stared at him uncomprehending.

"Vhat?"

Logan ignored his question and turned back to the man. The black stain on his stomach had slowly spread to his chest, but it was gaining speed. The skin darkened, and then burned, instantly turning to charcoal. The stench was nigh unbearable. Logan looked the man in the eye.

"I can make it stop burning. I can make it quick." He said softly.

Understanding passed over the man's face, and he nodded. Logan nodded to him.

"Close your eyes, kid. Think happy thoughts." He said, turning the man's head.

"Logan, no. You can't-" Kurt began.

"Pete." Logan said, simply.

Piotr stepped up and stood between Logan and Kurt.

"Look away, Tovarisch. Please." He said, frowning.

"But…but-" But Kurt couldn't think of a way to finish his thought.

Logan placed his knuckles against the back of the man's skull, just above the crown. He took a deep breath, and forced his middle claw out as quickly as he could, slicing through the parietal lobe, cutting off the man's senses first. With a flick of his wrist, Logan then cut off everything else. He withdrew his claw, and let it slide back into his arm. He lay the man down on the ground, and stood up. The black stain was moving faster now, eating the man as it went, leaving black ash behind.

"Logan…you just…you just killed him." Kurt said, 'porting past Piotr to shove Logan.

Piotr turned around, ready to separate his friends. Logan shook his head.

"Nah, Kurt. I killed him when I broke those vials." He said, looking at the quickly disintegrating body on the ground. "What I just did was an act of mercy."

"But…but…you killed him."

"And that's something I've gotta live with. Don't worry yourself about it, Kurt." Logan said. "I've got enough deaths on my hands that one more ain't gonna matter in the grand scheme of things. Don't worry about it."

"**Mein Gott…I'm not worried about you, du hurensohn." Kurt said, pushing past Logan to kneel over the man's body. **

**He made the sign of the cross and began praying softly. After several long moments, he looked up angrily. **

"**Leave. Both of you. I need to see this man off properly."**

"**But-" Piotr began, but Logan stopped him. **

"**Yeah. We'll see you back at the hotel, Kurt." He said, turning to leave. **


	8. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

**The Palm**

**Los Angeles, California**

**December 10, 1307 hours**

Liam slid into the booth across from a stunningly thin Hispanic young man who wore a gray Armani suit that looked like it was tailored specifically for him. The young man had introduced himself as Angelo Espinosa, an emissary of his employer, there to answer whatever questions Liam had. At the moment, Angelo was tearing into a medium rare rib eye, and had insisted on buying Liam lunch as well.

As it turned out, Angelo's employer was also, technically, Liam's employer. The mystery person who had hired Knight Time Investigations apparently also employed Angelo for various tasks. He'd described himself as a do-er.

After Liam had ordered a duplicate of Angelo's lunch, he pulled out his notepad. Angelo waved it away.

"No. No notes. Just you and me talkin', right? No paper trail. The boss, he doesn't like paper trails." Angelo said, around a mouthful of steak.

Liam shrugged and sighed.

"So, I've spent the last two days trying to get a name out of various people, and I still don't know who I'm looking for. All I got was a contact number for a shareholder for Burgeon Imports. If he's anything like the other share holders I've tracked down, he's rich and powerful, and maybe even famous." Liam said. "Now, why don't you tell me what it is I'm supposed to be looking for so I can stop chasing my own tail."

Angelo grinned and took a long drink from his Coke as Liam's food arrived.

"That's just it, ain't it, Esse? We're all just chasing our tails." He said, making a circular motion with his finger. "That's what the boss is doing. He's chasing his own tail, but he can't do it himself, so he has you and me do it for him, right?"

Liam stared uncomprehendingly at the grinning young man.

"Look, man. The boss is part of a group, right? This group does things that maybe ain't so legal, but the boss, he tries to keep them on the up and up. Tries to change things from the inside, on the low." Angelo said. "Some of these other G's, they don't like him so much. He's too high profile, too famous, too rich white boy for them. So they maybe tried to take him out a couple of times."

"So what you're telling me is that the person who you work for, and who's hired me, apparently, is the leader of a gang that's not tied to any of the organized crime groups in the city? And he's hired me to find out who's gunning for his job?"

Angelo shook his head.

"Nah. Not a gang, Esse. Like a…corporation, right? Each area around the world has its own bosses and advisors and soldiers and shit. He's not the boss, but he's a boss. The other bosses don't like the American way of doing things, and they like the honest way of doing things even less."

"I see. So he's part of an international crime group, and he's trying to get them to go legit?"

"More like damage control. Legal, illegal…these words don't mean anything to these people. They deal in realms you and me can only dream of. They're the big dogs of the world. Half the planet doesn't even know these people exist, they're so big." Angelo said. "They deal in power, and favors. None of them needs money to get what they want."

Liam was silent for a long minute. He stared at Angelo, and shook his head.

"So let me guess. He's worried that these other bosses are going to try and hit him again, and he wants some warning, right?"

"Nah. He knows they're coming for him. He's worried about what they're doing behind his back." Angelo said, nodding at Liam's plate. "Your steak's getting cold. Eat up and listen."

"About a year and a half ago, there was a business proposition put before the bosses. Real nasty stuff, but with the potential to make a huge profit. Both in money and in favors of the rarest kind. The bosses put it to a vote, and it was denied, because the risks were too big, and the majority of the bosses didn't wanna be involved with something so bad. Most of the bosses are, believe it or not, good guys. They've managed to get spots as bosses through money and power, and now they're working to keep the not so good bosses out of trouble."

Liam chewed over the information as he chewed his steak. There were only a few people that he could think of offhandedly that fit Angelo's description of their employer.

"These bosses who are the good guys, why don't they just expose the bad guys for what they are?" he asked.

"Most of the bad guys are already known as bad guys. If the boss went and told the world he was involved with the bad guys, even if it was for the right reasons, he'd lose it all, and the he'd just be screwed."

Liam shrugged and nodded.

"Okay. So what am I looking for here? I've followed the money, and it's led me nowhere. I've followed the paper, and it's led me nowhere. What do I look for now?"

Angelo leaned closer, and glanced around conspiratorially.

"Lick." He whispered. "It's-"

"I know what it is." Liam interrupted. "I know enough."

And indeed he did. He'd done some research after Jon and Tony had come home with a horrific story about it. It was a new drug for mutants that had some very nasty effects on normal humans. It burned them up from the genetic structure out in a matter of seconds. It was slower if absorbed through the skin, but either way it left nothing but ash behind. Jon and Tony had had to watch as a young woman screamed in agony as she burned, unable to do anything to ease her suffering.

For mutants, though, it was sort of a cross between Ecstasy, GHB, and a Sodium Pentothal. It made the person who took it a euphoric and fearless slave, who would wake up with no memory of anything that transpired, though it didn't affect their powers or their control at all. There were rumors of sex rings that used the drug to hold mutants hostage, selling specific mutants to people with fetishes for them.

Angelo gave him a considering look.

"You of the persuasion?" he asked.

Liam glanced around the restaurant, and, satisfied nobody was looking, gathered a very small amount of writhing telekinetic energy in his hand. It looked like a mass of seething fiber optic threads fighting for dominance. He showed it to Angelo, and then shrank it down to about the size of a pea. He tossed it towards the extra set of silverware on the table. The ball of energy hit, and the wrapped silverware shot off the table into the booth next to Angelo, all bent out of shape. Angelo grinned wider than before.

"Nice, bro." Angelo said, his grin still spreading to inhuman width.

Liam heard a finger snap next to him in the booth, and looked over to see Angelo's left hand, hidden from the rest of the restaurant, waving at him. The fingers elongated and tied themselves into a complicated knot, and then unwound, retreating back under the table.

"I bet that ruined your prospects in your 'hood." Liam said.

Angelo shrugged.

"Gave me an out, actually. Hooked up with some decent people." He said, his face returning to normal. "Gave me a chance to better myself."

He didn't elaborate.

"Well…good." Liam said, for lack of anything better to say.

"Yup. Looks like the boss knows how to pick his people pretty well." Angelo said. "He'll be glad to know that you're one of us."

"The boss is a mutant?" Liam asked, taking another bite of steak.

"No, but he ain't exactly normal, neither." Angelo said, taking one last sip of his Coke. "Finish your lunch, and then go get some rest. Tonight, go to the North side of town. Blue house at the end of Blackwell Road. Pose as a buyer, and the guy running things will get you on the right path."

"What if I just follow you instead?" Liam asked, smirking.

Angelo chuckled as he pulled two fifties from his wallet, dropping them on the table. He pulled a pair of sleek sunglasses from his coat pocket and slipped them on as he stood up.

"Then I'd have to report back to the boss that maybe you aren't the one we need looking into this after all. And you don't want that, bro." Angelo said. "Just eat your lunch. Trust me. You'll have solid leads tonight. I promise."

"Alright. Thanks for the meet. And thanks for lunch." Liam said.

"I'll tell the boss you said thanks." He said. "If anything else comes up, gimme a call at this number."

Angelo produced a business card with a phone number on it. No name, no company logo. Just a number.

"Okay."

Angelo left, and Liam finished his lunch in relative peace. When he left the restaurant, he went home, and did as Angelo suggested. He got some rest. Though for him, rest consisted of breaking out his pistols and cleaning them so that they'd work if he needed them tonight.


	9. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight****  
****Blackwell Road, North Los Angeles****  
****December 12, 0143 hours**

Logan pushed his way into the house, stepping over the doorman who lay unconscious on the porch. He'd tried to tell the three men that they weren't coming in. Obviously, he was wrong.

The door creaked open, and Logan found that the scent of drugs, cocaine, heroin, weed, and Lick, was prevalent in the air. Apparently this was the storehouse for the supply that the street dealers came to. Logan snorted, trying to clear his nose as Piotr stepped in behind him. Kurt was 'porting around the exterior of the house, checking windows, trying to get a head count of occupants, and searching for alternate entrances.

As Logan and Piotr stepped out the back side of the kitchen, they found a long hallway that was lined with doors. In the first room, they found two men who were very high, and a cloud of smoke. Logan held his breath as he looked around. Evidently this was the room where they stored and packaged the marijuana. The two men had apparently decided to sample the product. Logan just closed the door behind him and hoped that they didn't set the house on fire. Half the city would wind up with a contact high.

In the second room, they found Kurt crawling in through a window, and a chair, and not much else.

"All ze rooms on ze ground floor are storage and packaging rooms. Cocaine, heroin, marijuana, prescription drugs of every description. Upstairs vas a room with two young girls, who looked like they were being held against their will. 'I ported zem out." He said. "A few bedrooms and a bathroom. In the master suite upstairs, are two men. One is ze man we search for, and ze other…I don't know. A customer, perhaps, though he doesn't look the part."

Logan smiled, and motioned Kurt to join them.

"Good work, Elf. Good ta have ya back." He muttered.

The previous morning had been a bit of a nightmare. Logan and Kurt had had it out over the dealer in the alley. Kurt was having a bit of a crisis of faith, and Logan had tried to get him to see reality for what it was. Evidently his method wasn't the best approach. They'd almost come to blows, and Logan had the dumb luck to grab a hold of Kurt just before he ported outside the hotel. Kurt had landed on the edge of the balcony, but Logan had managed to wind up falling four stories before Kurt managed to 'port down to him. Unfortunately, Kurt's powers could transport him and another person pretty much wherever he wanted to go, but they couldn't alter momentum. Kurt had 'ported Logan to within inches of the ground, so the impact was only that of a four story fall. Logan had conceded the argument to the Elf rather quickly after that. Kurt felt horrible, of course, but Logan wouldn't let him apologize.

As the three of them crept to the stairs at the far end of the house, Logan whispered to Kurt.

"Do ya think you can 'port us upstairs? I don't want ta give whomever's upstairs any warnin' with creaky stairs."

Kurt nodded and placed a hand on each of their arms. Logan took a deep breath, and Piotr clenched his teeth and eyes shut. A quick inside churning trip later, and they stood in a dissipating cloud of purple smoke. Logan could hear two voices coming from the room at the end of the hall. They crept along silently, no mean feat considering they were walking on hard wood floors in an older house. Logan was almost sure Piotr would have scuffled or tromped or at least made the floor boards creak, but he moved almost as quietly as Logan did.

Logan paused two doors away from the room when Kurt placed a hand on his arm.

"Might I suggest an American military tactic? Shock and awe?" the elf whispered.

"I never gave the American military much credit when it comes ta tactical anything, but I think we can use their style this once. We'll send Pete in first, then me, then you 'port ta the window, blockin' that escape?"

Kurt nodded. Logan motioned for Piotr to armor up, and the large Russian did, growing almost two feet in the process, and gleaming in the dim light of the hallway. Logan held up his hand, and counted down from five. When he reached zero, Piotr swung a massive steel fist at the door, and it shattered into hundreds of pieces as they entered the room.


	10. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine****  
****Blackwell Road, North Los Angeles****  
****December 12, 0150 hours**

Liam sat across from the man who identified himself as "The Boss", smiling gently. He really hated the man. He disliked drug dealers in general, but this man really rubbed him the wrong way. Everything about him screamed crook, from his badly tailored cheap suit to his smelly cologne and dirty gold teeth. Yes, teeth. The white man had a "grill" on top and bottom that would make Lil' Wayne jealous, and it didn't look like he took much care to keep them clean. And he smiled a lot.

So Liam just smiled back as they talked. Liam felt a little uncomfortable, sitting there in a t-shirt and baggy cargo shorts, since his only weapon at the moment was his telekinesis. His revolver had been confiscated by the large man at the door. Sure, he could send the man through the wall with his TK, but he didn't want to risk injuring the man. He still needed more information.

He'd come in, posing as a buyer, wanting to set up shop in a thus untapped market, his own neighborhood. He'd told the man that he was a schoolteacher, and had provided a credible set of fake ID. So far he'd learned that the man's supplier was evidently part of Burgeon Imports, and was very well connected. Customs, police, judges, the district attorney…they all belonged to the supplier. All the man had to do was get the drugs out onto the street, and supply his superior with any mutants who became hooked on Lick. Simple.

"So, I buy from you, and pass any muties who get hooked bad, and I get to keep all my profits. Is that about right?" Liam asked.

The man grinned, and Liam had to force the smile to stay on his face to keep from retching on the man's scuffed Italian loafers.

"That's right, my friend. That's right. Not a bad deal, huh? I still gotta ask my boys to check you out, obviously."

"Obviously." Liam nodded. "And once I check out, I bring you what? Ten grand? Twenty to start?"

The man shrugged.

"Whatever you think you can sell, buddy. I work with all budgets." The man said. "Only one thing you gotta remember. You cross me, and I kill you. Not just you. I kill you, your family, your friends, your boss, and all those precious little brats at your school. Deal?"

Liam nodded again, smiling.

"I think we can do business." He said, offering his hand. "I never liked those kids anyway."

He man laughed, and grabbed Liam's hand.

At that moment, all hell broke loose. The door to the room splintered into a veritable cloud of wood slivers, and a giant metallic man came crashing into the room. Reacting a half second later, Liam swung the man towards the massive mutant, and immediately charged up two powerful blasts. He tossed one at the metal man, and one at the window, intent on creating a rapid exit. The large man caught the man, and tossed him aside. Liam took off running after his second blast, and it blew the window out of the wall, along with a nice large chunk of wall. Liam was halfway to freedom when his path became blocked by a blue furred mutant with a demonic smile.

"I don't think so, mein freund." The mutant said.

Liam turned, and saw a third mutant striding into the room, and suddenly realized who the three were. They were X-Men. They were members of a group of mutants who were at times superheroes, criminals, world savers, outlaws, teachers, and explorers.

Liam was severely out of his league, and he knew it. He stopped dead in his tracks, and raised both his hands over his head.

"I give, I give." He said quickly. "I'm a P.I."

The large metal mutant, whom he guessed was Colossus, went over and picked up the only groggy human in the room. He tossed the much smaller man onto the couch, and the third mutant to enter the room, the one known as Wolverine, walked rapidly towards Liam, unsheathing his claws as he did.

"Woah, woah, woah! Take it easy, guys. I'm a private investigator. I'm not here to cause you any trouble." He said, his powers automatically charging.

"Put that away. Stop it right now, bub, or I give ya a shave that gets a little too close." Wolverine said.

"Okay, okay. Just gimme a second. You're kind of freaking me out right now. Just a second." Liam said, backing away, and actively trying to power down.

His powers slowly faded, and he took a seat on the edge of the couch, trying to look as non-threatening as possible.

"Look, I'm on a case, and my leads brought me here, okay? I just-"

"Shut up. Not another word until I say so, clear?" Wolverine asked, pointing his claws at Liam.

The younger mutant just nodded. Wolverine turned to the furry mutant, Nightcrawler, and spoke.

"Elf, if he makes a move, you port him outside. I'm thinkin' ten stories up, and let go. Pete?" he said, turning to Colossus. "If the other one moves, squish him."

The metallic mutant smiled and cracked his large steel knuckles with a sound that was like several rapid gunshots. The shorter mutant turned to face his two prisoners, for that's what they were at the moment. He stared at them both in turn, scowling, and looking for all the world like he wanted to just carve the answers out of them. Liam sat silently, as the other man came around.

"Now, I'm gonna ask you two questions. If I don't like your answers, I'm gonna kill you. If you lie to me, I'm gonna kill you slow. I'll know. Hell, I may just kill you anyway, but if you provide me with the answers I want, I'll make it quick."

Liam nodded, and the drug dealer did the same.

"Now, you." The short mutant turned to Liam. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

"My name's Liam Kynde. I'm a private investigator with Knight Time Investigations. I was hired to investigate a company called Burgeon Imports. Paper trail and a few friendly hints dropped by a stretchy mutant who apparently works for the guy who hired me led me here."

Wolverine leaned close and sniffed the air around Liam. If Liam hadn't already been terrified, that certainly would have pushed him over the edge. The softly growling mutant squinted at him.

"This stretchy guy. He kinda gray and cocky?"

Liam frowned.

"Uh, yeah, actually. Friend of yours?"

The other mutant frowned and sighed, turning to face the other man.

"You. Who's your supplier. Give me a name."

The man had tears threatening to spill over his cheeks, but he didn't cry yet.

"No. She'll kill me."

"Mother fucker, I'll kill you, and I promise you I'll hurt you more." Wolverine shouted, impaling his claws in couch, next to the man's head.

"I don't know! I don't know her name!" the man yelped. "Her guys called her Chief! That's all I know, I swear."

Liam perked up, and turned to the man.

"What'd she look like?" he asked.

Wolverine growled at him.

"Shut up."

"Dark hair. Long and kinda curly. Green eyes, looks Asian. She always wears green." The man rambled.

"I know who he's talking about. She's one of the people I'm investigating."

"I didn't ask you, kid. Shut up." Wolverine said.

"I think maybe you should listen to ze man, mein freund." Nightcrawler said.

Liam raised his hands, and shut his mouth. Wolverine turned back to the man and sniffed. He growled, and withdrew his claws, letting all of them slide back into his hands.

"Where? Where did you meet her?" he asked.

"Uh…uh…I think I met her down at the shipyard. Yeah. Yeah. The shipyard. That's where I pick up my shipments. They come in from outta the country. I don't know where."

Wolverine nodded.

"Good. Pete, squish him."

"Ah! Fuck! No! Please!" the man cried, tears finally spilling down his face.

"Kurt? 'Port him till he passes out."

Nightcrawler grinned evilly.

"Come, you evil evil man. Let us go for a ride." And they disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Okay, bub. Spill." Wolverine said, turning back to Liam.

"Well, her name's Chief Elle Blur. She runs Burgeon Imports. Everything I've got on her leads to dead ends. Education, job history, personal references and contacts. She's a ghost, but I'm making headway." He said. "I've got information that suggests-"

"That some really rich and famous people are involved? So rich they are damn near invisible?" Wolverine asked.

Liam frowned and nodded.

"Okay, your turn. Spill. Why do you know so much of what I don't?" he asked.

Wolverine sighed and shook his head.

"No time. And not here. You got a car nearby?"

"Yeah. My SUV's down the street."

"Good. I hope ya have a big couch, because we're crashing at yer place tonight."


	11. Chapter Ten

**Chapter Ten****  
****Liam Kynde's Home, Los Angeles, California****  
****December 12, 0143 hours**

Liam sat on the counter in his kitchen, frowning at the three mutants before him, as if they'd just dropped in from outer space.

"Huh?" he asked.

Logan, as Wolverine had introduced himself, sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"There ain't no Burgeon Imports or Chief Elle Blur. They're anagrams. All the big evil groups like anagrams and acronyms." he said. "I dunno how else to spell it out. Look, Burgeon Imports, is actually a group of people who call themselves the Brimstone Group. The reason that Chief Elle Blur runs it, is because they're a splinter faction of the Hellfire Club, which is a group of super powerful people with aspirations of world domination."

Liam took another drink of his beer. They'd gone through two six packs already, and were working on a third.

"So there's a group of international Machiavellian super villains trying to take over the world…using drugs?"

"They've got their fingers in every pie imaginable, tovarisch. And it's not just super powered beings. Businessmen and women as well. Power is all that matters to them, no matter what kind." Piotr said.

Logan nodded, tossing his fourth beer bottle into the large plastic trash can reserved for glass recyclables across the room.

"Yeah. The guy who hired you is most likely Tony Stark. He runs the LA branch of the Hellfire Club. The LA branch is, for lack of a better term, one of the good guys. There are people situated all through out the organization who are trying to change it fer the better." He said. "The LA branch just got taken over by our side. The rest of them, though, are some of the meanest, sneakiest, most evil mother fuckers ever ta walk the face of the planet."

Liam sat silently for several long moments.

"Wow." He muttered. "So that's why you guys are here? You're looking for the Hellfire Club?"

Kurt and Piotr exchanged a glance, and then both looked at Logan, who sat silently for another long moment before he spoke.

"We're looking for my daughter. She's been kidnapped, and now, thanks to you, we know why. If the Hellfire club is involved, most likely she's been taken as a prisoner, and will be sold inta some sort of slavery. Sex trade, private army, medical experiments. Something like that."

Liam felt like his eyes were about to pop out of his head.

"What? How can you be so calm about it? Why are you just sitting here in my kitchen?"

Logan gave him an appraising look. He twisted open another beer.

"You think you know me, kid? You think you have any idea of the rage I'm feelin' right now?" he asked.

Liam looked away, and tried to hide the embarrassed flush that colored his cheeks.

"No, look. I'm sorry. I didn't mean-" he began.

"I don't have a way in. I'm too recognizable ta everyone in their organization. We all are. I can't get close." Logan said. "I wanna go in and tear every one of them to pieces until I find her, but I can't."

He paused, and smiled.

"But you could."

Liam sat up, and glanced at the other two mutants. They both looked away. Obviously Logan was in charge, and they weren't about to countermand his suggestion.

"You could get in close, enough ta distract them while the three of us move in enough ta swoop in and bust some heads. You're trained in infiltration, observation, tracking." Logan said, standing up. "Yeah. That's it. You're gonna help us."

Liam raised his hands and slid down off the counter.

"Woah, woah. As much as I'd like to help, I don't know if I'm the guy you want. I mean, I'm just an investigator, not a hero." He said.

"Bullshit. That's not what those medals I saw on your mantle said. You're ex-Army. Trained for combat. Maybe MP, but I'm betting Special Forces." Logan said. "I can tell by the way you move. You're not comfortable with your powers yet, but put a weapon in your hand and I bet yer a force ta recon with. Where were ya?"

Liam stared at Logan for a long minute.

"Trained at Benning, then with the SAS. Worked in South America, mostly. Cuba, Argentina, Venezuela. A little bit in Afghanistan and Iraq. And those medals are for being the only one of my squad to come back alive. Twice." Liam said, and then shut up.

Logan nodded.

"I've worked those places and more, kid. I've been in yer shoes, only one ta come back. Put yerself in my shoes, please. My kid's in danger. About ta be sold ta the likes of those trafficking bastards in Cuba. You know how bad it can get." Logan said softly. "Help me out."

Liam sighed, and closed his eyes. Logan didn't sound like he was giving him much of a choice. Liam was pretty sure that if asking nicely didn't work, Logan had other ways of ensuring his cooperation.

"Fine." he said finally. "I'll help. But I want no death. Destruction and injury is fine, but no death. I don't need any more blood on my hands than I already have."

"None of us do, kid. None of us do." Logan said, offering the younger mutant another beer.

Liam took the beer and slid back onto the counter.

"So what's our move?" Piotr asked.

"Liam here goes in under cover, as the new guy who took over from that jackass we took care of tonight. He meets with Chief Elle Blur, whomever she might be, and we get as much information as we can. Follow that ta the source. Stark owes me a few favors, maybe he can help us out." Logan said, pulling out his cell phone. "I'm gonna call Em's, see if maybe she can shed some light on the whole situation on the inside, and update her on what we've found. You three go get some rest. I'm gonna get us a meeting set for tomorrow night."

Liam led Kurt and Piotr to the den, where two large and well used couches sat.

"You guys can sleep in here. I'm upstairs, last door on the right." He said. "Don't let Logan drink up all my roommates' beer. I don't need much more of a headache."


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven****  
****Englewood Shipyards, Los Angeles, California****  
****December 13, 0206 hours**

**Liam stood at the land bound end of Pier 7, silently thankful for the weapons he had on him, beneath his coat, and the three world saving mutant superheroes he had on his side, just a quick teleport away. Logan hadn't been far off with his guess. Liam was more comfortable with firearms than his powers. Judging by the heavily armed contingent of people walking down the gangplank of the cargo ship that had docked ten minutes prior, he'd come underprepared. **

**Six armed and armored men, each carrying a high tech looking rifle, and dressed in gleaming emerald body armor, formed a phalanx around the stunning woman at their center. Madame Hydra, or Viper, as Logan had identified her, walked with the air of someone who thought that she ruled the world, and was nigh untouchable. She wore a bodysuit that matched her guards' armor, though it was accented by a black fur wrap. Liam couldn't ignore the large energy pistol that slapped comfortably against her thigh. As they approached, he put on his best "don't take me as a threat" smile, and kept his hands clasped in front of him. **

**As the group came to a stop, he took a small step forward and offered the woman his hand, though he didn't really expect her to shake it. **

**"Hi, I'm Lenny. Carl couldn't make it, so he sent me instead." He said, still smiling. **

**She raised one eyebrow, and took a step forward, putting her even with the front two guards. **

**"And what exactly is keeping Carl away from our meeting, my pretty little thing?" she asked, her voice like honey in his ear, which, oddly, wasn't as unpleasant as it sounds. **

**"Ah. That. Well, I shot him." Liam said, still smiling. **

**He slowly reached into his breast pocket, moving carefully so the guards wouldn't shoot him, and even so, they raised their weapons. He removed a small cell phone, and while doing so, loosened the Taser he had hidden there. He called up an audio file on the phone and held it out towards her. Carl, the drug dealer from the previous night, spoke quickly and loudly from the phone. **

**"Ah! Fuck me! Mother fucker! You shot me! What the fuck! Ah, no! No no no no!"**

**Liam stopped the recording and slipped the phone carefully back into his pocket. **

**"It goes on and on like that for a while, but you get the idea." he said, waving a hand dismissively at the phone. **

**"And what, exactly, brings you out here to this dirty place in the middle of the night?" she asked.**

**"I'm your new contact. Consider Carl…demoted. I'm the only thing that changes on your end." he said. **

**"I do hope that you are not operating under the illusion that I'm a criminal. Far from it. I'm just a private citizen trying to bring an in demand product to a needy populace." she said, smiling. "But these men here? The ones with the very large weapons pointed at you? They are criminals. Very bad men. So why shouldn't I just have them shoot you where you stand, and start over?" **

**Liam shrugged and glanced around, as if searching for the answers in the air. **

**"Oh, I don't know. Ease of business, profitability, the fact that I'm really, really pretty?" he asked. **

**"Perhaps, us, fraulein?" the mirthful words were accompanied by a soft "Bamf" sound and the smell of brimstone. **

**The rear guards turned around, looking for the sound of the voice, but in the time it took them to spin, they were quickly lifted off their feet, and tossed several hundred feet into the air, crashing against the hull of the cargo ship, and splashing down into the murky waters below. In the next two seconds, the middle guards both lost their weapons in lightning fast slashes, along with several fingers. A punch and a kick later, and they lay crumpled on the ground, unconscious heaps. One of the remaining guards was rapidly teleported in what looked like a strobing motion, until he passed out along the waterfront. **

**The remaining guard turned to face his attackers, and Viper had managed to pull her pistol and aim it at Liam's chest. She smiled a tight smile at him.**

**"I should have known. X-Men." she said, without looking. "Don't come any closer, heroes, or the pretty one dies right here."**

**"Mamushi, stop it." Logan said softly. **

**Liam saw her eyes widen, and she turned her head to face the short X-Man, though her aim never wavered. **

**"Aw, Logan. You shouldn't have come. Flowers would have been enough." she cooed. **

**Liam slowly reached up and pulled out the Taser, aiming it at her. He also gathered a small amount of power in his empty hand, though he kept it hidden behind him. **

**"Mamushi, you're into something deeper than deep, and our past history ain't gonna get ya out of it. I'm inclined ta make this easy on ya, but ya gotta work with me." Logan said calmly, resheathing his claws. **

**"Why should I? I still have one guard, and I know for a fact that you aren't going to hurt me. Past history and all." she said with a sneer. **

**Liam smiled sadly, bringing his power filled hand to bear on the end of her pistol. **

**"That's why they brought me." he said, and pulled the trigger as Piotr backhanded the remaining guard. **

**Two small darts shot from the Taser and embedded themselves in her ribs, sending twenty thousand volts through her body. She spasmed, and her fingers clenched, pulling the trigger of her weapon, which fired a blast of superheated plasma at him, though with the power pouring from his hand, it slowed to nothingness before it reached him and fell to the ground, just as she did. As she lay there convulsing, Liam couldn't help but notice the slightly pained look on Logan's face. **

**"Old girlfriend?" he asked, as he disengaged the Taser's power pack, and kicked her weapon away. **

**Logan gave him a menacing look, and growled as he walked away. Piotr reached down and lifted the still slightly shaking woman gently into his arms, and moved to follow Logan. **

**"Not girlfriend. Ex-wife." Kurt said softly, watching his friends go. **

**"Yeesh." Liam said, wincing. **

**Kurt rolled his eyes. **

**"You have no idea."**


	13. Chapter Twelve

**Chapter Twelve****  
****Liam Kynde's Home, Los Angeles, California****  
****December 13, 0713 hours**

**The three X-Men sat around a picnic table just inside the detached garage behind Liam's house, while Liam stood just outside the doors, working the grill, making a second batch of breakfast. A rather large platter of grilled marinated steak strips, onions, and peppers sat on the counter next to the pit, and on the grill was a trio of cast iron skillets, filled with scrambled eggs, seasoned potatoes, and slowly heating tortillas. Liam usually made breakfast for the house, since he was the only one not working emergency response hours. Kevin, Jon, and Tony had already eaten and were on their way to work, and Rebecca usually showed up around seven thirty. **

**"Okay, so what's the plan?" Liam asked. **

**"I'm gonna put in a call ta Stark. See if we can get a meeting. Find out if there's anything he'll actually just tell us instead of sendin' us on a fact finding mission through LA's seedy underbelly." Logan said. **

**"Okay, so we go talk to him and-" Liam began as he transferred the eggs and potatoes to empty bowls, and moved the tortillas to a plate. **

**"No, no. You don't count as we. Yer gonna be doin' some investigating of yer own." Logan said. **

**Liam gave him a confused look as he set down the potatoes and eggs. Kurt got up and moved to the grill to retrieve the meat platter, and Piotr armored up one hand to grab the hot tortilla pan right off the grill, and set it on the table. Liam sat down, a confused look on his face. **

**"Okay. I'll bite. What am I looking for?" he asked, gesturing to the food. "Breakfast is served."**

**All four men began creating breakfast tacos according to their tastes, adding salsa, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, or pico de gallo as needed. Logan took a rather large bite, and shrugged. **

**"Okay. Here's what I know." he began.**

**He recounted the conversation between himself and Viper. They'd picked up her inert body, and carried it back to the hotel room. After she'd woken up, Logan had sent the three other men out of the room, and had a very informative conversation with her. Evidently she still harbored some feelings for him, and he wasn't above putting those to good use to get information from her.**

**She'd told him that the Hellfire club was at a bit of a crossroads lately. For most of its history, its membership had been comprised of private businessmen and women, politicians and kings, and those people whose natural gifts and abilities put them on par with their powerful allies. The one thing they all shared was a love of, and a desire for, power. **

**Things had changed, as they do, in the modern era. During the sixties and seventies, drug addiction and unsafe sex had nearly wiped out several of the Hellfire Club's Courts, and they had to be eliminated. In the restructuring process that went on through the eighties, the love of money had become the sole driving force in the American courts, as the Club followed society's trends. Another restructuring took place, and those powerful people known to most of the public as "heroes" began to filter into the Hellfire Club for the first time. Now, more than ever, the Hellfire Club's membership consisted of a mixed group. Those who would be enemies on a battlefield were allies in their pursuit of power. **

**The Los Angeles Court was the first to be led by a hero. Tony stark took over, and effectively "cleaned house" when installed as the White King. He created the first "all hero" Court, and when they prospered, the other courts took notice. Britain's Amethyst Court "fell" easily to Brian Braddock, and he tolerated no criminal activity in his Court. With the Los Angeles and London Courts prospering, more and more heroes found their way into the Hellfire Club's ranks, and the overall organization began to change. It became more democratic, with the Kings and Queens of the Club meeting and voting on major matters, as opposed to just declaring new laws in their individual Courts. Any major changes had to be agreed upon by a majority vote. Each King still had total authority in his own lands, of course, but when he went to visit another King or Queen, he had to obey their laws. **

**Recently a vote was put forth by the Jade Court of the Far East, in which the Mandarin, the Jade King, moved to eject Stark as King, and begin distributing the drug Lick in his lands, as Stark had outlawed it. Every hero in the Club and most of the other members voted against the movement, after one of Stark's Bishops, a mutant, had pled the case against the drug. The young mutant convinced the rest of the club that a mutant populace unable to control their powers, while it could be profitable, would pose too great a risk to the Club. The vote failed miserably, and the Courts that had voted to support the Mandarin's choice were forced to keep dealing with Stark, in whom they'd not made a friend. Obviously, this didn't sit well with some. **

**Several Courts decided to sell Lick in Stark's domains anyway, right under his nose. The process had begun to become immensely profitable, and had also begun to draw some attention to itself. The Jade Court, and Viper's own Silver Court, had decided that the time to show themselves was nigh, and so at the upcoming "Royal Court", where all the clubs gathered to do business, a stronger vote to oust Stark would be put before the Club. If it failed, the visiting courts who supported it would issue personal combat challenges until Stark capitulated. **

**A side enterprise had emerged as well. Slave trading. Of course, the Courts didn't call it that, but when your clients became so addicted to your drug that they would literally do anything for it, that's what you wound up with. Slaves. **

**There were groups and individuals who would pay top dollar for mutants with specific powers, and so the Lick trade had evolved beyond what its original masters, the Brimstone Group, had planned for. At the current time, Laura Kinney, Logan's clone/daughter was being held prisoner at a biomed facility North of Los Angeles. A volatile and unpredictable patient, to be sure, the Brimstone Group hadn't been able to secure a sale for her yet, and so she was being used as…well, the guards were finding uses for her. **

**"So, you want me to find this place so we can rescue her, right?" Liam asked, making a second taco.**

**"Nope. Yer gonna find a way ta do it all by yerself." Logan said. **

**"What?"**

**"Ah, Logan. Perhaps this is not such a good idea." Kurt said. **

**"The kid's trained in infiltration, deception, info gathering, and if need be, combat. Viper'll get him in, and then he can blast his way out. We'll doctor up whatever damage is done later on." Logan said. **

**Liam looked at him for a long moment, and then grinned. **

**"I think I have an idea."**


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Angeles Bio-Medical Research Facility, Pasadena, California**

**December 13, 1450 hours**

**Liam stepped out into the afternoon sun, closing his door behind himself. The Angeles Bio-Medical Research Facility was a five six story hospital looking building North of Pasadena, nestled in the foothills of Angeles National Forest. Liam's black Chevy Suburban now bore white lettering on both front doors that read "Center For Disease Control-Los Angeles". Kurt had placed the peel & stick letters just before Liam and Piotr left the house, and Logan had finished installing the blue light bar that now sat on the roof of the truck not much earlier. **

**Liam, dressed in a charcoal gray suit and a white lab coat sighed as he turned to Piotr, who wore SWAT style riot gear, though it bore no markings. The large Russian carried Liam's Colt 1911 in a thigh holster, and one of his MP5's on a shoulder sling, though truthfully, he looked so intimidating he needed neither, nor did he need the mirrored helmet he wore, just in case someone recognized him. Liam handed the Valet his keys, and stepped around to join Piotr.**

**"Are you ready for this?" Liam asked. **

**Piotr snorted as they moved towards the main entrance.**

**"Of course. I have the easy job, my little friend. Stand there and look scary. You've got to do the talking."**

**"Don't remind me." Liam said, rolling his eyes as he opened the door. **

**They stepped into an air conditioned lobby, and Liam led the way to the receptionist's desk, putting on his best smile. **

**"Hi there…Jessica." he said, reading her name plate. "That's a pretty name. Listen, I'm Doctor Chalmers, and I'm here for a patient transfer."**

**Jessica, a thin and Waspish blonde smiled at him. **

**"And what doctor are you receiving from, Doctor Chalmers?"**

**"Ah, that would be Doctor Ashton."**

**"Let me ring him for you. If you and your friend would care to have a seat over in the waiting area?"**

**Liam grinned. **

**"Thank you very much, Jessica." he said, winking at her. **

**He and Piotr strolled over to the waiting area, which was more of an atrium with an elaborate abstract fountain softly burbling. Piotr followed one step behind and to Liam's left, playing the part of bodyguard quite well, except for when he leaned down to whisper in Liam's ear. **

**"That's a pretty name?"**

**"Oh shut up." Liam said, trying to hide a smile. **

**"Why don't you just go offer her a date? She'll probably have us out of here in no time." Piotr chuckled behind his helmet. **

**Liam just scowled at him. **

**"Doctor Chalmers?" a voice came from the right. **

**Liam turned and found an older man with sparkling blue eyes coming his way. The man moved with a sense of purpose, and cut quite the dashing figure in his navy business suit. Liam immediately got a bad feeling about the man. He was hoping for some paunchy administrator who would just be happy to get rid of Laura as quickly as possible, but this man fairly screamed "shark". **

**"Doctor Ashton, I presume?" Liam said, walking forward to extend his hand. **

**"So I am. So good to meet you, young man." said Ashton, pumping Liam's hand vigorously. "Please, come with me to my office. I hear you've come to take away our little kitten downstairs." **

**Liam fell into step next to Ashton, and Piotr followed as they walked down a long hallway. **

**"I have indeed. Our mutual friend has found a…another facility, better suited to the kitten's needs. I'm here, along with this strapping young lad, to spirit her away to her new home."**

**"I can't tell you how much of a relief that is, my boy. If you only knew the amount of trouble she's caused…" Ashton said, rolling his eyes. "It's a shame that we lost so many, ah, 'strapping young lads' in the process. They're so expensive. Of course, once we had her medication worked out, they didn't seem to mind caring for her so much anymore. Found uses for her time. Here we are."**

**Ashton led Liam and Piotr into an expensively furnished office, which he locked from the inside once they were in. **

**"I'm sure that she won't be a problem. This guy may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he's strong as an ox, and faster than he looks." Liam said, nodding at Piotr, silently thankful for the mirrored visor. "It's such a shame that honest doctors like us have to resort to working with…mercenaries, to do our work."**

**Ashton paused and looked Liam in the eye, and for a moment, Liam thought he'd played it too heavy handedly, but Ashton grinned. **

**"Just so, my boy, just so. Couldn't have said it better myself." he said, chuckling. "Now, we'll be going downstairs in my private elevator, but I must warn you, my security teams probably won't like your boy being so armed. He'll have to leave his weapons here." **

**Liam turned to face Piotr, and raised his eyebrows, as if waiting impatiently. **

**"Well? You heard the doctor. Lay them down." he said, nodding to the desk. **

**Piotr growled softly behind the visor, but complied. Liam really really really hated that. They were about to go into a secure facility, with armed security teams, and Lord knew what else, and they were going in with only what weapons God had blessed them with genetically. They were screwed. **

**"Wonderful. Shall we?" Ashton asked, pressing a button on the wall that opened a silvery elevator car. **

**The three men rode down three stories, heading into the facility's basement, and they were expelled into a dingy gray hallway. Ashton led them through several twists and turns until they came to a security checkpoint, where they all went through a metal detector and x-ray machine. After they were cleared, Ashton, plus a contingent of four security officers, armed with Taser rifles, led them to the appropriate cell. A biometric scanner read Ashton's palm print, and the cell door clicked. Liam caught sight of the thin pale girl, sitting in the corner of the cell. Her hair hung limply in her face, and she seemed to have little awareness of what was going on. She stared at a blank spot on the floor, and breathed, and that was about it. **

**"Well, here she is. She's fairly docile, as long as you give her regular doses." Ashton said, stepping into the cell. "Laura…Laura, can you hear me?"**

**He waved his hand in front of her face, and she dimly followed it. He got her to look at him, and smiled at her. It was not a pleasant look. It oozed ownership. **

**"Good afternoon, Laura. Do you know why I'm here?" he asked. **

**She stared at him for a long moment, and then blinked. **

**"Med…sin?" she slurred. **

**"That's right. I'm here to give you your medicine." Ashton spoke to her like she was a three year old. "One dose for now, and then these nice men will give you more later." **

**Ashton reached into his pocket and removed an orange pill bottle. Liam saw Laura's eyes light up as the bottle rattled in his hand. She crawled slowly towards him. He popped the top and removed one pale blue pill. Her eyes followed the pill as Ashton waved it back and forth. Her mouth opened just a bit, enough for her tongue to wet her lips, a dart of pink in the dim light. He slowly offered the pill towards her mouth, and she opened her lips. He placed it gently on her tongue, and she sucked on his index finger as she backed away, like she was trained to do it. Liam imagined the man probably tasted absolutely foul. He had to keep his smile plastered on his face to keep from gagging a little bit as she returned to the corner, a blissful look on her face. **

**"You see, her metabolism, the healing factor, processes the drug more quickly than other mutants, so she requires a pill about once an hour, or she gets…testy." Ashton said, turning back to Liam. "We put her through complete and total withdraw once. Only took three hours. Of course, in those three hours, we lost sixteen guards. Terrible mess."**

**"I'd imagine so." Liam nodded. "So she's good to go? Can she walk?"**

**Ashton nodded, looking at her as if he was handing over one of his most prized possessions, despite his claims that he was glad to be rid of her. Liam figured that the guards weren't the only ones finding uses for her time. **

**"Yep. She's all yours, Doctor. The paperwork was done before you even got here, so all that's left is to escort you out. She'll need to be carried, though. First ten minutes or so after a dose she's completely out of it." Ashton said, smirking at Piotr.**

**He looked like he was amused by the fact that he was saddling the "brute" with extra weight. Liam nodded and stepped aside and gestured at Laura. **

**"Mister Steel, if you would take hold of the patient, we can be on our way." He said to Piotr. **

**The large man moved into the cell, filling it up, and reached down to gently pick Laura up off the ground. She nestled comfortably into his arms, and sighed contentedly. **

**"Softer now." she muttered. **

**Liam frowned, and turned, extending his hand to Ashton again. **

**"Thank you very much, Doctor Ashton, for your help. You've been most informative. I'll have to put in a good word with our friend." he said, smiling as Piotr stepped into the hall.**

**Ashton shook his hand, and grinned. **

**"Absolutely. And you might look into a career change, Doctor Chalmers. There's always room for like-minded individuals here. You'd do well."**

**Liam tried to look intrigued, but could still feel a little bit of Laura's saliva on Ashton's finger. He couldn't wait to let go. **

**"I'll think about it." he said, withdrawing his hand. **

**"If you'll excuse me, I've got some other patients to attend to, but the boys will show you out." Ashton nodded at the guards. **

**"Of course. Thank you again, Doctor." Liam said, turning to follow the guards. **

**They made their way back upstairs via a different elevator, and the Valet attendant had the Suburban waiting when they arrived, along with Piotr's weapons. Piotr loaded Laura into the back seat, and moved around to the driver side. Liam was climbing into the passenger seat when he heard Ashton's voice. **

**"Stop them!" Ashton called, and the security team moved closer, raising their weapons. **

**Liam paused, and saw Ashton jogging towards them. They were busted. He just knew it. He gathered a nice chunk of invisible energy in his hand, and clenched his fist around it, ready to throw it into the nearest guard's face at a moment's notice. **

**"No, no, no, you idiots. I said stop them, not shoot them." Ashton said, pushing his way through the guards. "Doctor Chalmers…good lord. Is this what they make you drive?"**

**Liam smiled ruefully and shrugged. **

**"It gets me around."**

**"Ridiculous. I just wanted to make sure you know who to call when you make your decision." Ashton said, pulling a business card out of his pocket. "Maybe then you can get out of this piece of junk and into something a little more befitting your position. Check out the Jag sitting at the end of the lot on your way out. You'll understand."**

**He nodded to a black Jaguar parked in the first spot next to the building, at the far end of the parking lot. Liam grinned. **

**"Sounds like a plan to me." He said, taking the card, and powering down. **

**He climbed into the Suburban, and Piotr pulled away from the curb. Liam watched as the guards and Ashton turned to go back inside, and he powered back up quickly. He rolled down his window, and as they passed the Jaguar, he saw, like he expected, that the license plate read "Doc Ash". He grinned, and tossed the writhing ball of energy out the window. It slammed into the front end of the car, flattening it with a shriek of tortured metal as they pulled out of the parking lot. The gas tank must have ruptured, because a small fireball erupted, and engulfed the car in flames. **

**"Pretty lights." Laura muttered, staring out the back window. **

**Liam and Piotr laughed.**


	15. Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen**  
**Tony Stark's Home, Los Angeles, California**  
**December 13, 1524 hours

Logan growled softly as he was ushered into a large library by a butler. Kurt walked silently at his side, smiling softly at the impressive architecture. When they were in the library, the nameless butler closed the door behind them, apparently off to fetch Stark. Kurt wandered around the room, perusing the book selection. Logan, for his part, just stood angrily and chewed on the end of his cigar. 

"Relax, Logan. Tony is a friend, is he not?" Kurt asked, not looking at his fellow X-Man. "He has helped us in many a perilous situation. I don't foresee any problems arising from having a friendly chat with him. Do you?"

"Not particularly, but yer forgettin' that he's involved with the Hellfire Club. Running o' of their courts, even. He ain't exactly clean in all this." Logan grumbled. "And if he gives us any shit, things might just get a little hairy. I ain't about ta let him walk away from this. Avenger or friend to the X-Men, his people took my daughter."

Kurt nodded and shrugged.

"I suppose one could look at it that way. But do you really see him as a villain in all this? I mean, your, ah…well, Viper said it herself. He had no knowledge of what was going on until just recently." he said. "And once he did get wind of what was happening, he hired our new young investigator friend to find out the full extent of the Club's involvement. It is not as if he just sat around and let it happen, doing nothing."

Logan didn't reply, but he cocked his head to one side as he heard footsteps approaching the door. The doors swung inward, and revealed Tony Stark, handing a folder to an assistant.

"That'll be all, Miss Potts." he said, brusquely, and she nodded, smiling as she withdrew. "Logan, Kurt. It's good to see you, though I wish it were under better circumstances. Tell me…which one of you is the furrier one. I forget."

Stark entered the room, removing his ash colored suit jacket and laying it over the back of the couch. He settled onto the arm of the couch, and gestured for both men to sit. Kurt obliged, but Logan remained standing.

"We need ta talk, Stark." Logan grumbled.

"So it would be you, then? Do you prefer Furball or Fuzzbucket, I can't remember." Stark asked, smirking.

Kurt glanced tactfully at the floor, hiding his smile as Logan bristled.

"Quit playin'. Yer people have my daughter, Stark."

"Had, actually. Someone showed up with a transfer order and a rather large bodyguard, and took her out of the facility where she was being held. On their way out her rescuers managed to completely destroy a brand new Jaguar XJL. That's a hundred fifty thousand dollar car." Stark said, examining his perfectly manicured nails. "Something I'm going to have to pay for, by the way, in case you cared. See, this is why the American public hates you people."

Logan snarled and flexed his hands, his claws aching to be released.

"What people? Mutants?" he growled, the challenge clear in his voice.

"No, actually, I was referring to Canadians." Stark said. "You know I'm not going to tell you anything you want to hear as long as you're standing there posturing like an insecure, furry little weasel."

Logan scowled at him and sighed. He sat on the arm of one of the chairs, facing Stark, and nodded.

"Fine. Now talk." Logan said softly, though the threat of violence was still there.

"Thank you. Before I begin, you need to understand, that what happened to your daughter was out of my control. I know you're looking for someone to blame, and right now I'm an easy target." He said. "Keep in mind, however, that I'm on your side, alright?"

Logan and Kurt both nodded.

"Good. Now, it is true that I am running the LA Court of the Hellfire Club. Several of your ex-students make up part of my Court. Generation X. Good kids." Stark began. "Most of the organization doesn't like me or the way I run things, but to be honest, I don't really care. They can't touch me, and as long as I'm in charge, I can change things for the better."

"They came to me wanting to sell Lick and I turned them down, but apparently they decided to do it anyway. It's going to be dealt with at the upcoming Royal Court. Those responsible will be punished. Simple as that." He said.

Logan shook his head.

"Not that simple. Yer forgettin' about me. It wasn't just one o' my students, in which case the X-Men would be retaliating. It was my daughter. Ya know me pretty well, Stark." Logan said, folding his arms across his chest. "Do ya really think I'm gonna let ya get off on nothing but yer word?"

Stark sighed and shook his head. He glanced at Kurt.

"Don't you people have any control over this guy?"

Kurt chuckled.

"Believe me, we've tried. Now we pretty much just try to stay out of his way."

Stark nodded resignedly.

"The best I can do is get you an audience with the Royal Court. You can accuse those responsible, and challenge them to face the charges. If they own up to it, you can challenge them to face you in combat. If they loose they will be expelled from the Club, and probably financially and socially ruined. If they deny the charges, then your only option is to go about it outside the Club." Stark said. "You absolutely have to make your case to the Royal Court. If they side with the people responsible, you're shit out of luck, and I can't help you."

Logan nodded.

"When?"

"Two nights from now. Here. They'll arrive tomorrow and the next day, and the Royal Court will begin at ten that night. Be here no later than eight, and I'll have one of my people go over the process in more detail. They'll get you outfitted right, and explain what will happen. How many of you will be coming?" Stark asked.

"Three." Kurt said.

"Four." Logan corrected. "We're sending Laura home, and we'll be bringing your detective with us. He's in this shit as deep as we are now. I suppose we gotta get him outta this mess."

Stark waved a hand dismissively.

"Don't worry about him. He's under my protection." He said.

"Mine too." Logan said evenly.

Stark stared at the shorter man for a long moment, and shrugged.

"Fine. Have it your way. Now, if there's nothing else, I've got about fourteen and a half billion things to do between now and then, so if you'll excuse me, Jarvis will show you out." Stark said, rising and nodding to them both.

"One more thing, Stark." Logan said, standing as well.

He took two slow steps up to Stark, and placed himself almost against the taller man.

"I won't let this go. I'll try it your way, because you owing me another favor won't hurt my feelings, but if it doesn't work…you'd best get your people out fast."

Stark raised an eyebrow.

"Logan, don't mistake our friendship for weakness. I'll do what it takes to protect my interests, and that includes turning my back on you if necessary." He said. "I like you, and I like the X-Men. You're good people. But this goes above and beyond your little squabble with my group. I'm trying to save the world from these people, and sometimes people have to be sacrificed in order to do that."

He glanced at Kurt, and nodded.

"Kurt. Logan. Good to see you again. Now get out of my house."


	16. Chapter Fifteen

**Chapter Fifteen**  
**Liam Kynde's House, Los Angeles, California**  
**December 13, 1710 hours**

**Logan paced back and forth across Liam's living room floor, growling to himself, as he and Kurt waited for Liam to get back with Piotr and Laura. Kurt was sprawled out on the couch, watching a football game, and munching on a bag of Cheetos, which were making his fingers orange. Logan, however, couldn't sit still. It was taking too long. They should have been back already. Something must have gone wrong. **

**"Logan, for the last time, you cannot make them come back any faster by wearing a hole in Liam's floor. Sit down and enjoy the game." Kurt said, gesturing to a chair. **

**"Can't. Something's wrong." Logan muttered, staring out the window for what seemed like the billionth time. **

**"Alright, fine. You keep walking in front of the television and I'm getting tired of trying to see through you. Sit down and enjoy the game." Kurt said, a bit exasperatedly. **

**"Fuck off. You're a blue skinned, blue furred elf with orange fingers. Why should I listen to-" Logan began, but then stopped. **

**He heard an SUV approaching at rapid speed, along with the sounds of shrieking metal. He dashed out of the living room, vaulting Kurt and the couch with no difficulty. He was out the door and standing on the front porch by the time that Liam managed to slide into the driveway. Logan could see several large head and fist shaped bulges in the roof of the vehicle, and Liam's pain stricken face.**

**"What the-" Logan muttered, but was cut off by the entire back roof of the SUV being torn off. **

**Piotr stood up with a fiercely battling Laura in his massive silver hands. His black armor was torn to shreds, and he struggled to keep a grip on her as she twisted and kicked and slashed. Liam leapt out of the car, and turned, both hands full of writhing energy. Kurt teleported onto the hood of the SUV, and raised both hands toward the younger mutant. **

**"No! Wait! You'll only make her mad." He shouted. "Let us handle this."**

**"Hurry! I can't hold her for long!" Piotr said, being kicked in the face for his efforts. **

**Laura managed to turn around, and was now slashing at Kurt as well. He did his best to stay out of her reach, while speaking softly to her in German. **

"Seien Sie noch, mein Kind. Wir sind Ihre Familie. Wir möchten nur helfen."

"GIVE ME MY MEDS!" she screamed, finally managing to tear herself away from Piotr.

She bounded down off the SUV, throwing a kick at Kurt, the blade extending from her boot flashing in the afternoon light. He teleported instantly, appearing behind her, but she apparently had been expecting that, and snagged his tail. She yanked on it and rolled backwards, off the hood. As she fell to the ground, her weight and momentum sent Kurt flying towards Liam, who immediately powered down. As Piotr began tearing his way out of the car, she sprang off the ground and leapt after Kurt, who teleported to avoid crashing into Liam. As he disappeared, Liam saw the small girl erupt from the leftover smoke, hurtling through the air at him, her claws and eyes flashing. An abrupt burst of energy, pretty much uncontrolled, erupted from Liam's hands, knocking her back into the SUV.

"Shit! Shit! I'm sorry! Shit!" he babbled, as Logan dashed to grab a hold of Laura. She's detoxing from the drugs. It started an hour away from the facility."

"Come on, kid." Logan said, picking her up by one arm. "We'll get ya through this."

He yanked her roughly to her feet, and drug her towards the garage. She turned and swiped at him with her free hand, but he caught it. He swung her around and brought a hard knee up to ram into her stomach. As she doubled over in pain, he headbutted her, knocking her out cold to collapse onto the pavement.

"Get over here, you pansies. She won't be out long, and we've gotta get her restrained until this wears off." he growled at the others, hefting her up into his arms.


	17. Chapter Sixteen

**Chapter Sixteen**  
**Liam Kynde's House, Los Angeles, California**  
**December 14, 2134 hours**

**Liam and his adventurer house guests sat around the kitchen island. Open containers of Chinese take-out sat here and there, and everyone was eating quietly. After the fight earlier in the afternoon, they'd managed to get Laura into the basement, and kept her there until the effects of the drug were out of her system. There had been a minor scuffle between Logan and Liam when she'd begun to slice open the veins on her arms, letting the blood flow out onto the cement floor. Liam had insisted on moving in close to stop her from hurting herself, and had only received a swift kick in the groin for his concern. **

**Logan had pulled him back and explained that she understood what was happening, and was taxing her healing factor so that it would kick into high gear, eliminating the effects of the drug by replacing that which was lost with new, uncontaminated blood. Liam had thanked him for the information through tears of pain, though he requested that Logan explain himself sooner the next time Liam was about to step into a situation likely to endanger his more prized appendages. Logan had just laughed. **

**After bleeding heavily for a good ten minutes, Laura had let her claws retract, and her healing factor slowly sealed up her wounds. After another twenty minutes, she stood up, shook some of the blood off of her hands, and asked to take a shower. Logan had carried her upstairs to minimize the amount of blood tracked through Liam's house, and dropped her off in the bathroom. She'd showered, cleaned up her clothes as best she could, and then entered the kitchen where the men were gathered, and declared that she was hungry. Since Liam hadn't had a chance to get to the grocery store, and his housemates were all out partying on their night off, Logan had decided on take-out. Now, they sat around the island, chewing softly, with very little conversation beyond a "Pass the soy" now and then. **

**Liam spent the quiet time covertly studying Laura in the reflection of the sliding glass door on the back of the kitchen. Everything about her, from the way she sat, to the way she held her chopsticks, to the way she never let her eyes stop moving, screamed either military or prisoner. He wasn't sure which, and was a little wary of asking. He was honestly beginning to think that letting the X-Men into his life might have been a mistake. Since he'd met them, he'd been almost shot by several people, involved in the abduction of a mental patient, assisted in the beating of said mental patient, broken heaven knew how many laws, and been kicked in the crotch. Yes, the X-Men were making his life a bit more interesting than he'd like.**

**"You rescued me?"**

**It took Liam a long moment to realize that Laura had spoken as he stared out the window, and a longer moment to realize the question was directed at him. He turned to look at her, and swallowed the food in his mouth. **

**"Hm? What? Oh…Um, I guess. I mean, I helped. It wasn't just me." He said, shrugging. **

**"But you did most of the work?" she asked, staring intently at him, as if trying to figure out how his parts fit together. **

**Liam just shrugged as the other X-Men watched silently.**

**"Not really. I just bullshitted my way in, and then ran away before anybody could tell the difference."  
**

**She stared at him for a long moment, and then nodded.**

**"Thank you." She said, going back to eating. **

**Liam glanced at Logan who just nodded, almost a mirror image of Laura's movement. **

**"Uh. Sure. Any time." Liam said, smiling. "Although, I wouldn't advise making a habit out of this kind of thing."**

**She looked at him again, this time like he'd dropped down from space. **

**"I wasn't planning on it this time, and I don't intend to repeat the experience." She said solemnly. **

**Kurt made a slight choking sound, and excused himself as Piotr covered a smile and Logan sighed. **

**"No, it was a-" Liam began, but Piotr laid a hand on his arm. **

**"Don't worry about it, tovarisch." He said. "She's not so good with the sardonic turn of phrase."**

**Liam glanced back at Laura, who was busily going about eating her food, and shrugged again. Superheroes were strange people indeed. **


	18. Chapter Seventeen

**[b]Chapter Seventeen**  
**Liam Kynde's House, Los Angeles, California**  
**December 14, 1302 hours[/b]**

**Liam sat in the living room, watching the argument go back and forth between Logan and Laura. To him, it must have seemed very surreal. Both of them shouting, pointing at each other with the hand holding their beer, both wearing jeans, boots, and plain white t-shirts. Logan didn't really care what he saw though. **

**When the argument began, Kurt had excused himself to go upstairs and take a nap, and Piotr had gone out into the back yard, muttering something about doing yoga or Tai Chi or something. Logan and Laura had been between Liam and the door, and were for the most part ignoring him while they went back and forth, and so he just sat very still, probably feeling like a kid whose parents were fighting. **

**"I'm not sayin' it again, darlin'. Yer goin' back ta New York." Logan growled. **

**Laura just sneered right back at him and took a step closer. **

**"No I will not. You can't make me, and even if you could, you won't."**

**"Oh really? And how do ya figure that? Because you're so wonderfully charming?"**

**"No, because I'm an asset. You're going into a dangerous situation, where you will be outnumbered by a great deal, behind enemy lines, and the night is virtually guaranteed to end in a fight." She said, sticking her chin out a little bit. "You need all the help you can get, and it's not like you can call Scott and Emma and have them bring you reinforcements. This is a personal matter, and you have to handle it alone."**

**"No I don't. I've got Kurt, Pete, and the kid here coming with me. I don't need Cyke's help." Logan said, clenching his teeth around the cigar in his mouth. "I've got this under control."**

**"No, you don't. These people don't follow any civilized rules. They make their own. Kurt and Piotr would be useful in a fight, but Liam isn't ready for this kind of battle, and you know it."**

**Liam drew himself up in his chair a bit, and frowned.**

**  
"Hey, I-" he began.**

**"Shut up." Logan cut him off. "Liam's the one who waltzed in and swept you outta that hellhole they had you locked in. He faced an army of guards in a secure facility with no weapons but himself and Pete, and got out completely unscathed. He's Spec Four, and knows his way around firearms. Just because he's not trained to use his powers don't mean he can't handle himself."**

**"Thanks, I think." Liam muttered. **

**"Shut up." Laura said, glancing at him with an annoyed look on her face before she turned back to Logan. "None of that matters. When this is all said and done and we've had this argument out every which way, I'll still be here, and you're going to take me with you."**

**"Oh yeah? Why's that?" he shouted. **

**"Because you're my father!"**

**That stopped Logan short. He opened his mouth to reply, but no sound came out. She stamped her foot as she spoke, looking much younger than she had a moment ago, and crushing his heart just a little bit with the movement.**

**"You're not just my genetic template. You're supposed to look out for me. You're supposed to keep me safe." she said, tears coming to her eyes. "And you let them take me. Do you have any idea of what they did to me?"**

**Logan glanced away from her, and opened his mouth to reply, but she cut him off. **

**"For three weeks, I was stuck in that place. Day in and day out, doing whatever they told me, so that they'd keep giving me drugs. You-" her voice broke, and she had to take a moment to find it again. "You wouldn't believe what they did. And I know where you come from, so that's saying a lot."**

**Logan stared at her boots, unable to look her in the eye, but unable to look away, frozen in…what? Fear? Anger? Pity? He didn't know what to call what he was feeling. From the look on Liam's face, he didn't have any words for what he felt either. **

**"You're my father. And even though you had me rescued, you still owe me." she sobbed, punching him in the shoulder. "You owe me my revenge. You owe me that much." **

**She stood there, staring at Logan, waiting for an answer as he tried to formulate something, anything to say. It took him several long moments, and when he spoke, his voice was raw and full of pain. **

**"I know, darlin'. I know. I just-" he said, still not looking at her. "I just can't fail you again. I can't let them take you, and I don't know if I'm strong enough ta stop it this time."**

**"We will." she said softly. "We will make this right. All of us."**

**Logan nodded, and finally looked her in the face, though she was watching Liam, who was conspicuously looking at anything but them. She turned back to face Logan, and there was so much of himself in her features that it was scary. To see that much confusion and hurt on her face, and to know that he was partially to blame, absolutely tore him up inside, and it was the kind of hurt that a healing factor didn't fix. **

**"Okay." he said, nodding and reaching to gather her into his arms. "You can come." **

**She let him pull her closer, and leaned into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her and lay his chin on her head. **

**"It's about time you got the right answer." she sniffled.**

**Liam laughed, and quickly covered his mouth with both hands, looking extremely embarrassed. **

**"Sorry. I…uh, sorry." he said quickly. "I'll just…"**

**He pointed at himself and then the door, nodding and raising his hands like he was surrendering. **

**"Hang on, kid. I wanna talk to ya fer a minute." Logan said, turning back to Laura. "You need ta get some rest. We've got a busy day tomorrow. Go on. Get outta here. Go relax."**

**She smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes, nodding. She glanced at Liam and gave him a look that he didn't quite understand, and left the room. Logan watched her go, and then turned to Liam. **

**"I'm sorry ya had ta see that, kid. I wasn't plannin' on all that ta come out." Logan said. **

**Liam raised his hands to stop Logan.**

**"No need, man. Family stuff's complicated." Liam said, shrugging. "I get it."**

**"No, I don't think ya do. Y'see, the guy she came out here with, was her Ex. First real boyfriend." Logan said, closing the door to the den. "He was special to her. And he busted up her heart pretty bad. Now he's hurt, maybe dead. Don't really care much either way." **

**Liam took a step back, not really liking where the conversation was headed. **

**"What I do care about, is that she seems ta have taken a sorta shine to you." Logan said, fixing him with a solid stare. "Don't know what kind of shine this is, whether it's romantic or friendly, and I don't much care. I don't particularly have a problem with it, neither. Ya seem like a decent enough kid, and ya helped us out in a sticky situation, which has, somewhat, endeared ya to us. Not me. Us."**

**Logan sighed, and puffed on his cigar, folding thick arms across his chest. Liam just looked confused. Laura? Liking him? No way. She'd only known him for about twenty hours. Not possible. Absolutely not. But he wasn't about to tell Logan that. He wasn't about to interrupt the shorter man for anything.**

**"But, as she pointed out, I am her father. And if you hurt her, in any way, what we're gonna do tomorrow night ain't gonna be shit compared to what I do to you. Is that clear, bub?"**

**Liam nodded silently, struck sort of mute. It took him several moments to squeak out a response.**

**"Y-yeah. Clear."**

**Logan nodded, apparently satisfied. He turned without another word, and left the room. Liam sat back down on the arm of the chair, and shook his head. **

**"They're all crazy."**


	19. Chapter Eighteen

**Chapter Eighteen**

**Liam Kynde's House, Los Angeles, California**

**December 14, 1737 hours**

Liam lay on his back on the diving board of his pool staring into the sky, listening to the miniature waves that the light breeze caused on the water, trying to mentally prepare himself for the coming day. The leading purple edge of night chased the sun over the horizon like some red, bleeding, wounded thing, and Liam frowned at the image, hoping it wasn't an apt description of the coming day. The last time he'd seen combat was with the 75th Ranger Regiment. Six years wasn't enough time to lose your skills, it was enough time for them to go dull. Liam had traded a life of covert warfare for a life of covert investigation, so he was a little worried.

Though his unit had been stationed at Fort Benning, he was on loan to the Venezuelan government as part of a peace keeping and training force from the US Army. They'd been assigned to train the local army in unconventional warfare, in order to better prepare them for combat against the rumblings of an uprising. Some local rebel leader fancied himself an up and coming warlord, and if it weren't for his charismatic demeanor, he wouldn't have been a problem, but he'd been surprisingly effective in converting medium sized groups of people to his cause, which was, naturally, to overthrow the government and insert himself as a dictator.

It turned out later on that the young man, Armando Cortez, was actually a mutant with low level telepathy that was "stickier" than normal telepathy, for lack of a better term. He inserted suggestions into people's minds, and they just seemed to stick, even after he stopped using his powers, and so his private army grew rather quickly. Of course, they weren't properly trained, so they were little more than cannon fodder, but with enough of them Cortez could overrun a full sized platoon given a little time.

Liam had been tasked with leading a four man squad of Rangers into enemy territory to see how well Cortez's new base was defended. The men selected for the team were some of Liam's closest friends. Brian Garrison, Brian Kindt, Liam Kynde, and Joel Stene. They'd trained and had been stationed together since they entered the military. Stene had been added into their group a week after they started, when their original squad member took off AWOL. They couldn't have been closer if they were brothers. Each of them trained in a specialty within the squad, and only at the graduation ceremony from Ranger School had Liam been promoted to squad sergeant. Garrison was the squad communications expert, Kindt the medic, Stene the demolitions man, and Liam was the sniper.

They took a V-22 Bell Osprey into a tobacco field, forty kilometers from the base to avoid radar detection, and set off in that direction, planning to arrive just after dark. It was a decent amount of ground to cover with a seventy five pound rucksack, to be sure, and when one added the weight of their rifles, pistols, grenades, extra ammo, knives, and med kits, they were each carrying just over ninety pounds, but for Army Rangers, it was just a moderate workout.

They arrived at their designated rally point without incident, thoroughly exercised, but still ready for a fight if it came to that. Before proceeding to the actual base just under five kilometers away, they paused for a meal of cold MRE's, on the principle that if their mission should fail horribly, they'd need the energy to withstand whatever torture Cortez subjected them to.

And, Liam had added, it would be a shame to die hungry.

They stowed their food trash in their rucksacks and moved into position, Liam and Stene staying on the near side of the base, while Kindt and Garrison moved around through the forest to the far side, sending up two small remote cameras on nearly silent rotors. The base was set into the end of a long valley that ended off in the distance, but began at the base of a cliff. It was ringed on two sides by sheer rock faces shot through with heavily magnetic deposits, one hundred meters tall, making electronic surveillance nearly impossible. The near side, where the Rangers made their advance, was a steep hill, covered in trees all the way down to the fence line.

As the squad reconned the base, things did indeed fail horribly. Liam would later discover that Cortez had co-opted a relatively well placed captain. The same captain who had assigned Liam's squad their mission. Cortez wanted playthings, and he couldn't think of anyone better to find sadistic uses for than Army Rangers. They'd walked right into a trap, prepared for them before they even knew where they were going.

The captain's CO, Major Lisle, had discovered his underling's treachery, and had sent extraction orders and an extraction team in for the Rangers, but the magnetic interference made reception around the base dodgy at best. The squad never received the order. It wouldn't have helped anyway. Cortez's people had already managed to capture Garrison, who was hit by enemy fire when one of them had caught the slight glow of his vid screen. Kindt, who had been Garrison's friend before the military, threw himself into the remaining enemies, fighting like a madman, and was killed when one of the locals opened fire into the entire group. Liam and Stene had already removed their rucksacks when they realized that Garrison had been killed, and were making their way down to the base, Stene lobbing every grenade he had on him, along with multiple improvised bombs ahead of them on their way to rescue Kindt. When they saw Kindt killed, though it killed them, they slowed their advance. They weren't about to leave the other two men to the enemy, but they knew that it would be a recovery instead of a rescue. With the explosives already detonated, the trees had begun sliding down towards the base, along with many tons of dirt and rock. It took care of the majority of the enemy, but there were still some inside.

Liam and Stene made their way carefully down to the base, shooting when they had to, wasting no ammunition. They managed to make it into the structure, which turned out to be only a few hardened concrete rooms. They managed to clear the rooms with only one wound accrued, a shot to Liam's shoulder. When they found no sign of Cortez, or anyone else, they called for extraction, but the Osprey was already on the way. The extraction team landed as Liam and Stene pulled Kindt and Garrison's remains out of the human debris around them, laying them carefully side by side.

They loaded up the aircraft carefully, and were about to take off when Stene spotted something just off the loading ramp. It was Kindt's extra medpack. Kindt wouldn't have wanted anything left, if it was still useful, and so Stene had stepped off the aircraft, asking the pilot to wait. The pilot hovered just off the ground, and waited for Stene to step back onboard before revving the engines and lifting off. As Stene's boots hit the deck, Liam grabbed a hold of him with his good arm, and pulled him onboard, just in time for a round to shatter his spine. Liam screamed, and yanked Stene onboard, tossing him to the other soldiers in the hold. He hit the deck as the Osprey swung wildly, bringing his rifle to bear and searching for a target. He found Cortez's grinning face staring up at him from the cliff top. Liam fired off rounds as quickly as he could, but the man managed to dash off into the woods.

Back on post, when they landed, Liam had immediately gone into his new CO's office, and demanded to be put on the team hunting Cortez. The CO denied his "strongly worded request", and ordered him back to the US, but Major Lisle overturned the orders, granting Liam his shot at Cortez. He'd been the sole survivor of a mission before as well, and told Liam he had as long as it took to track down Cortez, and assigned him a platoon of locals to help out. Liam had snuck out in the dead of night, and traveling alone after being dropped off near Cortez's destroyed base, he made his way to the top of the cliffs, to the point where he'd seen the man when he disappeared into the woods. His trail, some of it showing signs of blood, led into the forest about fifty meters, and then turned around, and led back down to the base.

Liam could hardly believe his luck as he found Cortez sitting in a chair, holding one hand over a stomach wound, his weapon hand holding a pistol at his side. Apparently one of Liam's shots managed to find its target, and hit Cortez. He'd returned to the base to see if he could find anything resembling medical supplies, but had found nothing. Liam couldn't help laughing as he stepped into the room, and watched Cortez's face dimly register recognition. Cortez tried to raise his pistol, but couldn't manage it. It clattered to the ground as Liam chuckled. He didn't ask Cortez any questions, or speak a word. He just calmly walked up, kicked the man out of the chair, and used his powers against a living target for the first time, reducing the man to a large red and black smear on the floor and walls of the room. He then exited the base, and reduced it to rubble. He hiked to the end of the valley and was extracted without incident. When he got back to base, he signed his resignation and turned it into Major Lisle, and was honorably discharged from the Army. One of the perks of being a Ranger was that once you finished your initial tour you could sign on indefinitely, choosing to resign at any time.

Now, lying on the diving board, Liam's thoughts were on that time. Going back into combat didn't scare Liam. Dying in combat didn't even bother him in the slightest. Surviving everyone else for a second time? That scared the shit out of him.

A face abruptly entering his frame of vision interrupted his thoughts, and startled him right off the diving board, into the cold pool. As he surfaced, he saw Laura standing next to the diving board, giving him a confused look.

"Why did you do that?" she asked as he pushed himself out of the water.

"Do what?" he asked, rather grumpily.

"Fall in the water."

Liam looked at her like she was crazy.

"You startled me." he said. "My mind was on…well. It was elsewhere."

"You're thinking about tomorrow?" she asked, sitting down on the edge of the diving board.

He shook his head and began unbuttoning his wet shirt. He pulled the green garment off and began ringing the water out of it as he kicked off his shoes.

"Not really. Times past, mostly." he said.

"How you lost your squad?" she asked, and he froze, staring at her.

"How…how do you know that?"

"I'm good with computers." she said, shrugging.

He shook his head and sighed, continuing his drying procedure. He hung the shirt on the rail of the pool, letting it drip. He squeezed his legs, forcing the water down and out of the fabric.

"Yeah. That's what I was thinking about. The last time I was in combat I lost everyone with me." he said, sitting down next to her on the diving board, and stared at the ground. "It's not really something I want to repeat."

She reached out and took his arm, pulling him closer. He initially pulled away, but he realized she was moving his arm for a better look at his tattoos. On his left shoulder was a black and gold Ranger  
Tab, along with a red and black 75th Ranger Regiment Scroll. Below both of those was the Fort Benning "Follow Me" patch, a blue shield with a red dagger on it and the words "Follow Me" above. She ran her finger across the scar from his bullet wound.

"Seven point six two round from about seven hundred meters." She said softly, before letting his arm go. "How long did it take before you didn't think about them every day?"

Liam smiled grimly. He leaned down and rested his elbows on his knees, folding his hands.

"I'll let you know when that happens." he said.

They were both silent for a few minutes.

"I'm sorry I scared you into the pool." She said, leaning down to mimic his position.

Liam shrugged.

"I was due for a bath anyway."

She made an amused sound and he glanced at her. He decided that when she smiled, she was awfully pretty. He then amended the thought to include times that she wasn't smiling. She was a good looking young woman, probably five years younger than he was, but that wasn't so terribly long. She was tough, capable, smart, if a little off. She had a killer body that automatically sent very dirty thoughts coursing through his mind. She'd probably get his little quirks if they ever spent any time together. He could do worse for himself.

He cut off that line of thought, though. There was no guarantee they'd survive the next day, nor that she would be interested in such a relationship. And even if she was, she lived on the other side of the country, or so he believed. He wasn't really sure. To be honest, he didn't know the first thing about her, beyond the last two days, and that she was supposedly a clone of Logan, and had come out to California with her ex. That was a whole other level of complications to deal with.

"You should relax and stop thinking so much." she said suddenly.

Liam blinked.

"I'm sorry?"

"It's bad for your brain." She said, looking at him seriously from behind a curtain of hair.

"No, I…wait…were we in the middle of a conversation that I don't remember leaving?"

She made an exasperated sound and turned to face him on the board.

"You were thinking about sex. Specifically, about me, and sex." she said. "Then you stopped. Then it was doubt, confusion, competiveness, blah blah blah."

Liam stared at her and blinked again.

"You're a telepath too?" he asked confusedly.

"I can smell your hormones. All people's hormones. It's almost as good as telepathy." she said, shrugging. "Stop thinking so hard, and just be. You saved a pretty girl from some monsters and got to be the dashing hero. It's not that complicated."

Liam scratched his head, now thoroughly confused.

"So, you're saying you want to have sex with me?" he asked.

"Well, you rescued me, didn't you? It's required." she said, nodding solemnly.

Liam jumped up off the diving board, backing away.

"Woah, woah, woah. I don't know how it is where you came from, but that's not how it is with me. I just-" he began.

"Calm down. I was kidding. It's a joke." she said, smiling. "You're wound so tight you're about to explode. You need to relax or you're going to do something stupid tomorrow."

Liam ran a hand through his wet hair and sighed.

"You're about the most frustrating, confusing person I've ever met." he said. "With the possible exception of your father."

Her smile grew just a little and she stood up, walking past him to go into the house. She turned at the door and put her hands on her hips.

"Don't die tomorrow, Liam. I'll need to unwind. I think I'd like to pick up where your train of thought left off after we're back here." she said, and turned and went into the house.

Liam stood there silently for several long minutes. He didn't move until Kurt stuck his head out the door.

"You alright, mein freund?"

Liam nodded, and reached for his shirt.

"Maybe. I think…maybe." he said, moving towards the house.

Kurt chuckled.

"She has that effect on men. Her father does the same to women. Must be genetic."

Liam just kept nodding as he entered the house.

"You do know that you people are all fucking crazy, right?"

Kurt laughed and nodded.

"You get used to us after a while."


	20. Chapter Nineteen

**Chapter Nineteen **

**Tony Stark's House, Los Angeles, California**

**December 15, 2141 hours**

Logan growled to himself as he paced the room. He, Kurt, Piotr, Laura, and Liam all sat, stood, or paced in the small dressing room off of the main meeting chamber in the sub-basement of Stark's home. They were all dressed identically, in loose fitting dark pants and sleeveless red tunics with hoods. Thick leather belts encompassed their waists, and soft leather boots and gloves covered their hands and feet. If Logan was going into battle, which was hopefully the way the night would go, he preferred street clothes, or at least the familiar blue and gold battle suit he'd worn for so long. He felt patently silly in the Hellfire Club's garb, especially knowing that within the hour he'd be fighting against an unknown opponent. It reminded him of his days working as a cage fighter. Knowing that a fight was coming, but unable to see your opponent…it felt like old times. He smiled grimly.

He was glad that he had spoken with Viper before Stark. She'd filled him in on the basics of what would happen inside the chamber, should he be able to talk Stark into letting them into the meeting. Stark's butler had given them a basic "you'll go challenge them, and if they accept, you fight" speech, but Viper had elaborated. They had to go into the chambers, and challenge whomever were responsible for bringing the drugs into Stark's territory. They already knew that Viper was involved, and she had told Logan that she'd accept the challenge, and that she'd name the other courts involved, for old time sake.

Each court called out would have one of the attending members drawn at random to defend their court's honor. Ranks meant nothing in such a challenge, as a King should be willing to defend his court from all comers. If they managed to win three out of five matches, their case would be made, and the offending courts would be banished from the meeting. This fight represented the culmination of all the mounting stresses and frictions between the courts. Logan and his group just provided a convenient excuse for it to come to a head.

"So, who do you think is going to be beyond those doors?" Kurt asked, relaxing on one of the couches in the room. "Anyone we know?"

Piotr shrugged.

"Probably. We know Stark will be there, as well as Viper. I'd imagine that there will be more familiar faces than we expect." he rumbled, flexing his hands.

"I can't smell anybody, so either they ain't inside yet or these doors are air tight." Logan grumbled.

"Oh, isn't that a lovely idea?" Liam asked sarcastically. "An airtight room in what's basically the enemy's lair. Beautiful."

Logan shushed them as he placed an ear to the door and listened. Footsteps were approaching.

"There's someone coming."

The doors swung outward, almost spilling Logan to the floor, revealing a young Asian woman of about twenty three, dressed just like them but in black, and instead of a hood she wore a short crown.

"Fuck me." Logan said.

The others in the room jumped up to see who it was that prompted such a reaction. Liam and Laura didn't recognize the young woman, but Piotr began swearing softly in Russian, and Kurt's jaw dropped.

"If you'll follow me, The Courts are waiting." she said, a sad smile on her face.

Logan stared for a long moment.

"Bright Light?" Kurt asked, astonished.

"Svet?" Piotr said, equally astonished.

Logan kept staring, but found his voice.

"Jubes?"

A long silent minute passed before Liam turned to Laura.

"I don't get it."


	21. Chapter Twenty

**Chapter Twenty ****  
****Hellfire Club Chamber, Los Angeles, California****  
****December 15, 2145 hours**

Liam frowned as they were led into the Court Chamber proper by the young woman Logan had called Jubes. Clearly there was some sort of history there, but he couldn't tell what kind it was. Kurt and Piotr were both shocked as well, but Laura didn't seem to know who she was either. Maybe the history was of the ancient variety. Of course there would be one more thing to complicate their night. Liam sighed.

Whatever it was between them, it evidently wasn't important enough to discuss at the moment, because she led them into the main Chamber. It was an elongated diamond shaped room, with white marble walls about five feet high, behind which sat pairs of people dressed in black tunics like the young woman's, all wearing crowns of some sort. The floors were polished white marble, just like everything else in the room, and it was lit softly by a single pearl colored globe hanging from the ceiling. He recognized a few of the people as they watched and whispered among themselves.

Brian Braddock, the costumed adventurer known as Captain Britain, and a purple haired woman at his side, the X-Man Psylocke. The Mandarin, an internationally known warlord of unknown type. Viper was there, and in the next group was the French Prime Minister, Michelle St. Claire. The New York Kingpin of Crime, Wilson Fisk and at his side, the X-Man known as Angel. And then, of course, there was Tony Stark and his group, all in white, nearly blending into the walls.

To his left sat Janet Van Dyne, fashion mogul, heiress, and Avenger. To his right, the Asian girl took her place, leaving Liam and the others in the middle of the chamber. Angelo Espinosa, the "problem solver" that had met with Liam on behalf of Stark grinned and waved from Van Dyne's right, and an unfamiliar dark haired woman stood to the right of the Asian girl. Liam didn't recognize half the other people, but he didn't really expect to. He figured they were heroes or criminals or just plain powerful people. It wasn't really important to the matter at hand.

Stark stood, and the hushed whispers abated.

"Hellfire Club Courts, we have before us a challenger. He offers challenge to those who have offended him, and will meet those responsible in combat. No weapons, no powers. This ring has power dampeners in it, so no one will be able to use their powers, even if they wanted challenge will be met with strength of hand and will." he said, gesturing for Logan to step forward.

Logan stepped up and removed his hood, glaring about at the assembled groups. He nodded to a few of them, but mostly he just glared.

"Someone has been importing Lick, and that business got my daughter kidnapped, drugged, and abused in more ways than one." he said, turning in a slow circle. "I challenge whoever is responsible to personal combat."

His eyes landed on Viper, and she stood.

"I accept your challenge, and I speak for my fellow Courts in admitting our responsibility in your troubles." she said softly. "Silver, Jade, Gold, and Black Courts. State your combatant."

Liam watched as she picked up a silver coin and tossed it to Stark. He caught it effortlessly, and looked at it in his palm.

"Heads. The Silver Queen will fight." He said.

The Mandarin stood and tossed a shimmering green coin to Stark, who pronounced that it had come up tails, and so the Jade Rook, the Asian man next to The Mandarin, would compete. Kurt leaned over and whispered to Liam.

"Shiro Yoshida. Sunfire. He's an X-Man."

Liam nodded slightly, watching as the French PM tossed a gold coin.

"The Gold King will fight." Stark said, and the Prime Minister nodded.

Wilson Fisk stood and tossed an onyx coin to Stark, just a few feet away.

"The Black Knight will fight." Stark said, nodding to Angel.

The blonde man just ruffled the white wings on his back.

"Now, normally this would be the end of our selections, but as this happened in my White Court, clearly someone in my own organization, probably one of my Pawns, has turned on me, and so I must also put forth a combatant." Stark said. "I hereby offer up one of my present Court. Which of you will accept the challenge?"

He turned to face his people, who all looked relatively uncomfortable with the idea of facing the X-Men in combat, but the Asian girl spoke up.

"The White Bishop accepts the challenge." she said, and Logan gasped.

Kurt muttered something in German that sounded like a prayer.

"Very well. Now you shall draw lots for your opponents, challengers. Step forward, one by one, and take a piece." Stark said, laying five small tiles face down on the edge of the wall.

Logan stood still, with an unreadable look on his face as the others went and drew their tiles. The matches wound up being Kurt against the French PM, Piotr against Shiro Yoshida, Laura against Fisk, Liam against the Asian girl, and Logan against Viper, in that order. Kurt removed his red tunic, and began stretching as the St. Claire climbed down over the wall. Liam and the remaining X-Men were ushered up a small set of steps into an observation box.

Liam leaned over to Piotr and whispered softly.

"Who's the girl?" he asked, nodding at Stark's box.

"Jubilee. She is former X-Man. Logan's protégé and adopted daughter. They were…close. Then she died." Piotr said. "Or so we thought."

Liam glanced at Logan, who was muttering to himself, and sighed.

"Shit. This should be interesting." he said. "Don't you people ever stay dead?"

Piotr shrugged.

"It comes with the uniform, I suppose."

Stark cleared his throat, and said "Begin."

The fight was over in less than a minute. St. Claire was a middle aged politician who exercised, who indeed held great power, but against Kurt, someone who trained for flexibility, strength, mobility, and combat almost every day of his life, the Prime Minister never stood a chance. Kurt locked him into a neat little arm bar, but when he wouldn't give up, the furred mutant spun the arm lock into a choke hold, and the Frenchman passed out. Kurt eased his grip, but didn't let go.

"Stop." Stark said, as the assembled crowd muttered to each other in hushed tones.

Kurt released the man, who slumped to the ground. Two men in white tunics entered what had become the ring, and picked the man up, carrying him from the Chamber.

"Challenger victory. Next combatants." Stark said.

Piotr stepped down and took Kurt's place, looking like a mountain of muscle compared to the lithe man who stepped into the ring opposite him. He frowned at the smaller man, and sighed.

"I wish things were otherwise, my friend." he rumbled.

"With respect, so do I, but I must." Shiro said, bowing slightly.

At that, the Mandarin stood up, and shook a finger at Stark.

"The Jade King calls for a disqualification of this combat. My Rook cannot perform to the best of his abilities." The elder man said, angrily.

A hushed murmur went through the room.

"Clearly, his loyalties are conflicted. While my Rook performs his duties for me admirably, I cannot be sure that he will face his former teammate with all of his abilities. He said it himself."

Stark looked to Shiro, and raised his eyebrows. Shiro turned and bowed to the Mandarin, and to Stark.

"Forgive me, my King, but you are correct. I wish I could say that I would not perform with any less than my full ability, but I cannot honestly answer you so." he said.

Stark frowned at the Mandarin, who had a particularly satisfied look on his face.

"Very well. Unless the combatant wishes the Jade King to select another opponent from the assembled Courts, he must forfeit." Stark said, turning to Piotr.

Logan cleared his throat, causing Piotr to turn and look at him. Logan shook his head. Piotr cocked his head to one side, an insistent look on his face, but Logan just shook his head again.

"Ah, no thank you." Piotr said glumly, returning to the box.

He sat down next to Logan, and opened his mouth to speak.

"He's already got the win. If you fight, you get tired and you still might lose. This way, at least you're still rested up." Logan said, as he watched Laura enter the ring. "We may need you later."

Piotr froze, his mouth still open. He thought about it for a moment, and closed his mouth.

Liam leaned down on the rail of the box, watching Laura closely. She was probably two feet shorter than Fisk, and he had to outweigh her by at least three hundred pounds. Even though Liam had seen Laura fight, he had a feeling that the bout wouldn't end well. His feeling got worse when Fisk took off his tunic, revealing a heavily muscled frame.

"I take no pleasure in this, my dear, but I will protect my interests." he said, his voice deep and intimidating.

Laura just stared at him, curling her fingers into loose fists.

"Begin."

Laura launched herself at the massive Mafioso, a flying kick aimed at his head, but he caught her leg in midair, and tossed her back across the ring.

"Come, come, now. Surely the offspring of our illustrious Wolverine can do better than that." Fisk chuckled.

Laura twisted in the air and landed on her feet.

"I can." She said, throwing herself at him again.

Several quick kicks and punches connected, though Fisk managed to block several more. The fight went on for several minutes, with her darting in and out of range. Finally, Fisk let her come in close, and managed to get a hold of her tunic, which he used to lift her up over his head and slam her hard onto the floor. She managed to scramble free, leaving the tunic behind, winding up wearing only her sports bra on her torso. She made it to the far wall, and shook her head, as if to clear it.

"Very nice. Perhaps there is pleasure to be found in this after all." Fisk rumbled lecherously.

Liam was on his feet ready to leap in to Laura's defense before he knew what was happening. Thankfully, Kurt's reaction time was faster, and he placed a firm hand on Liam's shoulder, shoving the younger man back down. As Liam realized what had happened, he blinked back at the ring, and saw Laura stalking back towards Fisk, undeterred.

"Keep your mind on the fight, fat man." Liam called.

Fisk turned and smirked at Liam, taking several blows to the midsection, and not even flinching.

"You keep your mouth shut, little bug. You have no voice here yet." he growled.

He reached out and snared Laura again, her feet at least a foot off the ground, and this time wrapped her in an iron bear hug, one arm around her throat, and one wandering over her body. All four men in the box were on their feet, but Stark raised a hand before they could protest.

"Fisk. Stop." he said.

Fisk paused, turned, and spat defiantly in Stark's direction as Laura continued to struggle, though she couldn't break his grip on her throat.

"This is a fight, that you can easily win. Not an excuse for you to molest young girls." Stark said, snapping his fingers.

Panels in the walls opened up, and several Iron Man suits of armor stepped out of hidden alcoves, all targeting Fisk with a whirring sound. Shocked cries and epithets came from the Hellfire Club, but Stark didn't waver.

"You will stop this, or I will." Stark said, leaning down closer to Fisk's face, which was now covered in red laser dots.

The larger man scowled, and cast one last glance at the suits of armor, who's weapons were beginning to glow with energy. He nodded in acquiescence, and let his free arm wrap around Laura's chest, compressing her ribs so that she couldn't draw any air. Her struggles slowed, and then finally stopped.

"Stop." Stark said, and the Iron Man suits stepped forward, just in case. "Black King wins."

Fisk let go, and Laura fell to the ground. The men in white tunics came to pick her up, but Logan was in the ring first. He picked Laura up, and carried her back to the box, glaring at the men, as if daring them to try to take her from him. He carried her into the box, and lay her on the bench.

"Stark, how far do the power dampeners work?" he asked.

"Just on the floor of the chamber. She should be fine." Stark said calmly. "Next challenger, step into the ring."

Logan slid onto the bench, laying Laura's head in his lap, rubbing her sternum with his knuckles, trying to cause enough pain for her to wake up.

"Go to, kid." He said, not looking at Liam.

"But-" Liam began to protest.

"We can't stop now. Go to. She'll be okay. Her healin' factor just has ta kick in." Logan said, nodding towards the ring.

Liam turned and saw Jubilee enter the ring at the far end of the chamber, and he sighed. He unfastened his tunic and began pulling it off to enter the ring.

"Kid- " Logan began.

"Don't worry. I won't hurt her." Liam said, stepping down onto the floor.

"You'd better. I can win my match easy enough, but you absolutely have to win for us ta come out on top." Logan said. "She's had at least as much hand ta hand training as you have, and she's an X-Man. And she fights dirty. You better beat the ever lovin' shit outta her."

Liam paused as Jubilee took off her own tunic top, jumping up and down to stretch out her muscles. She flexed and extended, and took a few experimental jabs in the air. She seemed to know what she was doing. Worse yet, she was fast. Liam was no slouch, and he was good, very good, at hand to hand combat, but he hadn't really expected a fight. Crap.

"Oh. Okay." he said, more to himself than anything else, pulling his arms over his head to stretch his muscles.

He took a few steps towards Jubilee, and stopped in the middle of the floor. She walked up close with her hands on her hips, looking him up and down with a smile on her face.

"So you're the new kid running with the old dogs, huh?" she asked, smirking. "They won't steer you wrong. I sure hope you're worth their effort."

Liam studied her for a moment. She had a hard gleam in her eye that spoke volumes. She might be younger than he was, but in some ways, she was just as old. Her years, while not entirely unkind, hadn't been easy ones. She saw life for what it was, and what it could be, both the good and the bad.

"So do I." he said, nodding. "Good luck."

"Shyeah. Sure." she rolled her eyes, and stepped back, falling into an easy stance.

Liam mirrored her, and glanced as Stark raised one hand.

"Begin."

The fight immediately went downhill. Five seconds in and Liam had managed to catch three kicks to the ribs, and a punch to the nose. She was much much faster than he'd even anticipated. And she was deceptively strong. His chest ached on the left side, and his nose was trickling blood. He'd managed to shove her back out of arm's reach, and blinked away the pain.

"Jeezus." he muttered.

"He did warn you." she grinned, launching another flurry of blows, and this time he managed to block most of them.

When she broke off, to reset herself, Liam lunged at her, catching her in the midsection, taking them both to the ground. A quick scramble later and he had her caught between his legs as she threw blow after blow at his face. He blocked, and stretched his body, keeping her fists from smashing him about the head anymore. After two failed attempts at reaching his face, she changed her tactics, and punched him squarely in the crotch.

Twice in three days. Just perfect. Liam's first instinct was to let her go and roll away in pain, but he forced himself not to release his legs, which he locked in place. He squeezed her ribs as hard as he could, forcing the air out of her lungs, making her face turn red. She punched and scratched at his chest and stomach, but as he held up the pressure, her color moved from red to purple, and she started moving more slowly. Liam's legs screamed in protest, but he kept the pressure up. He managed to get a hold of one of her arms, and swung around into an arm bar, which was a mistake. The moment she got another breath, she grabbed a hold of his pants, and tried to stand up. While she didn't make it to her feet, the movement made it hard enough for him to hang on that he couldn't dislocate her shoulder. She managed to make it to her knees, and lifted him off the ground, slamming him back down. The breath whooshed from his lungs, and his grip loosened just enough for her to wriggle free.

Liam managed to scramble to his feet as she launched another volley of punches and kicks at him, which he concentrated on dodging rather than blocking. She stopped and as he kicked straight out at her, she leapt, twisting in the air, to land behind him. She leapt onto his back, and slid one arm around his throat, trying to get a choke hold locked in, but he kept his chin to his chest and backed her up against the wall, pinning her there. He pushed back with his legs, and felt her grip loosen again. He reached up with both hands and took hold of her wrist, twisting it towards himself. She yelped in pain, but didn't let go, so he took a quick step forward and bent at the waist, throwing her over his shoulder. She crashed to the ground, and he yanked on her wrist before she could get back up, pulling her into a rear naked chokehold. She squirmed, kicked, and scratched, but in ten seconds, she stopped moving.

"Stop." Stark said, but Liam had already released the hold, and was performing a sternal rub to try and wake her up.

After about twelve more seconds, Liam got his reward, which was a swift punch in the jaw as Jubilee rolled away.

"Ow." she said, rubbing her chest with her palm. "That hurt, kid. Not bad."

Liam ran a hand over his jaw, which was throbbing something fierce.

"Same to you." he muttered.

"Challenger victory. Final combatants." Stark said.

Liam glanced up and saw Jubilee leaving the ring, and Logan entering, watching her walk away. He came over and clapped Liam on the shoulder, nodding towards the box.

"Get out, kid. Good work. Lemme finish this." Logan said. "Go see ta Laura."

Liam looked into the box, and saw Laura sitting upright, a pained expression on her face, her tunic jacket back on and fastened halfway. He moved to the box, and went to sit next to her. She slid over on the bench, and lay her head on his shoulder.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I will be. My neck hurts to hold up." she said.

He nodded, and put an arm awkwardly around her as Viper entered the ring. She turned and smiled at Logan.

"You know I still love you, right anata?" she asked.

"And I you, taisetsu." Logan said softly.

"Good." She said, turning to face Stark. "The Silver Court admits is involvement in these affairs, and forfeits the round of combat without battle."

"What?!" screamed the Mandarin, over the other startled outbursts from the assembled. "This is an outrage! You cannot just give them victory! You'll divide the Club in two!"

She turned to face him with a contemptuous look.

"The division is here. It has been since we started this drug running business. It's already been brought out into the open." she said. "All I did was save myself a few bruises from a fight that I couldn't win."

Stark raised his hands, and cleared his throat.

"Quiet. Quiet in my Court!" he called.

Slowly the outraged voices subsided, and Stark took a deep breath, giving both people in the ring a considering look.

"Challenger victory stands. This is my ruling, and so the challengers have the day. Those courts involved will gather their people and leave my domain, not to return until invited back." he said, grimly. "Your business is no longer Hellfire Club business. Jarvis will see you out. Silver, Black, Gold, and Jade Courts, as King of this Royal Court, I hereby dismiss you and all your Courts from participation. Leave my home immediately."

Stark hit a switch, and suddenly Logan smiled. He unsheathed his claws, and his healing factor closed the wounds around the metal blades. Laura lifted her head, sniffing, and unleashed two claws from her hands, startling the hell out of Liam. At first he didn't realize what had happened, but then it dawned on him. Stark had turned off the power dampeners. He was expecting a fight with the other members of the club, and wanted Logan and his group to join in, if it came to that. Liam smiled. He didn't have any weapons on him, sadly, but he had his powers, and that was something. As Kurt 'ported to the floor of the chamber, Piotr suddenly grew in size, turning silver with a sound like liquid metal flowing across stone. He stepped right over the wall, and stood beside Kurt and Logan. Quickly, other members of the Club, those that Liam recognized as adventurers and heroes, began to enter the ring, powering up. Liam and Laura joined them, Liam letting his power flow unrestrained through his arms, the telekinetic energy writhing along his skin like clear snakes. Stark stepped down with his people, facing the Mandarin, and removed his tunic jacket, revealing Iron Man armor.

"You will leave, or face the King's wrath." he said, as an Iron Man helmet dropped from the ceiling.

He caught it effortlessly, slipped it on, and it sealed with a click and a hiss. His palms began to glow, and for an instant, the entire room hummed with the rising energy of the heroes in the center ring. Liam thought that the opposing Court members would actually go for a fight, but Viper left the floor, snapping her fingers at the man who had been seated with her, and he rose to leave with her as she exited the council chambers. The X-Man known as Angel moved to enter the floor with his fellow X-Men, and Fisk grabbed the back of his tunic.

"You don't leave until I say so, Worthington. I'm still your king." he growled.

Worthington shrugged off the larger man's grip, flexing his wings so hard and fast that Fisk staggered back.

"I won't stand with you anymore, Wilson. Not after what I saw you do in that ring." he said calmly. "I'm an X-Man. I always have been. I was just a little lost with you."

He joined the others in the ring, and Fisk turned to leave in a hurry. The only people left were Shiro and the Mandarin, who looked like he was still ready to fight. Shiro placed a soft hand on his King's shoulder.

"My lord, perhaps we should save this fight for another day."

"You think me unable to handle them?" the Mandarin cast a haughty glance in his direction.

"Not at all. I fear for my own safety in such a pitched battle, and ask you to look after my wellbeing as one of your Rooks."

The Mandarin sneered, and faced the assembled heroes (and villains, and private detectives), but he nodded slightly.

"Very well. We will have our way another time." he said, turning and leaving the chamber.

Shiro bowed to the group, and followed his King out the door. For a long moment, nobody moved. The group stood there, facing the door that their enemies had just left through, as if expecting them to come roaring back in at any moment. It wasn't until Logan spoke that anyone relaxed.

"Well. I need a beer."

Liam let out a nervous laugh, and it slowly spread through the group. After a few moments of laughter, Stark turned to the group, and spoke, his voice sounding slightly robotic from beneath his helmet.

"I think that makes two of us. Challengers, if you would be so kind as to leave the Court Chambers, we still have much to discuss. Miss Potts or Jarvis will have accommodations set up for you here. Go, get some rest, and I'll speak with you when we're done." he said.

Logan led Liam and the X-Men, now plus Warren Worthington III, back into the preparation room, where Stark's butler Jarvis met them and led them to their individual rooms to await Stark.


	22. Chapter Twenty One

**Chapter Twenty One **

**Tony Stark's Home, Los Angeles, California**

**December 16, 0013 hours**

Logan lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling, willing himself to fall asleep. Unfortunately, as strong as his will was, his brain refused to turn off. Just like normal. Fuck. He'd gotten himself all ramped up to fight, even though he wasn't expecting one from Viper. He had known that when things came to a head, some of the less cool mannered members of the Hellfire club might have taken matters a bit further than the normal displeased yet diplomatic response.

Logan sighed, and drummed his fingers on his chest for a few moments before getting up. He needed to move around, to talk to someone. Kurt, being the lighthearted guy that he was, had probably fallen asleep as soon as head hit the pillow. He was like that. Battle huge towering robots, evil mutant masterminds, and whole intergalactic armies, and then take a nap, sleeping soundly as a baby. Logan envied him this skill.

Pete was probably writing, or drawing. His stress outlet had always been his art, and while he wasn't particularly private about it, Logan would feel like he was intruding.

Maybe he'd go talk to the kid. See how he was holding up after the evening's excitement. Maybe give him some answers, if there were any to be had. Surely the kid had questions. And Logan figured that he probably owed the kid for not hurting Jubes too badly. After all, he'd taken a lot of blows from the sparkplug, and had still managed to beat her without really hurting her. No easy task. Logan knew from experience how hard the girl could fight when she wanted to, and from what he'd seen, she hadn't been pulling any punches.

That was a whole other matter in itself. Jubes. Jubilee. Jubilation Lee, back from the dead, with not so much as a "Hey, fuzzy.". It was like someone had brought his first daughter back to life. Sure, he and Kitty had been close, but what he had with Jubes was different. More. What Logan really wanted was to sit her down and explain what he was thinking, feeling, ask a million questions and then some. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and squeeze the life out of her, as un-manly as that'd be. Then he wanted to kick her ass for scaring him so badly, for causing everyone so much pain.

Then he wanted to talk with Stark, to get this whole mess over with and take his team home, but seeing as he couldn't do any of those things, he'd settle for talking to the kid. He stood up and slid into the ungodly expensive and slippery silk PJ bottoms that had been provided for him. He crept silently out into the hall, and back towards Liam's room, his mind a whirl with questions, answers, thoughts, ideas, and worries. As he approached the door, he knocked twice, and pushed it open.

He should have known better.

His eyes followed the trail of silky PJ's to the bed, and for half a second, he wondered why Liam had female pajamas on his floor. Of course, the sight that met him as his eyes landed on the bed explained it all. In that split second, he cursed his eyesight for being so good. He saw too damn much.

There was Laura, his daughter, sitting astride Liam, both of them tangled in the pale ivory sheets of the bed. Laura's hair was tossed wildly about her shoulders, and her back was slicked with sweat. Liam's jaw was clenched and his eyes were squeezed shut in an expression that Logan recognized all too well. The bloody nail marks on his chest confirmed what Logan thought. It was the expression of the pain being inflicted adding to the pleasure.

Logan stood there frozen, just long enough for Liam to open his eyes and focus on the open door.

"Oh, shit!" the young man exclaimed.

He scrambled into a sitting position, trying to adjust the sheets around himself and Laura.

"Logan! Hi, um. I was just, uh...We were, um, well…fuck." Liam sighed. "No! That's not what I meant. What I meant to say was…um…Shit. Fuck me."

"Wow. This ain't awkward at all. I guess I shoulda knocked. I was…well, I just-" Logan began.

"I couldn't sleep either." said Laura, casting a glance over her shoulder at him with a clear 'You're interrupting and should probably leave about now' look on her face.

"Oh. Right…I'm, uh…well." Logan stammered. "Yeah. You two kids, uh…you know. Have fun."

Logan shook his head as he closed the door, kicking himself for not realizing that Laura's scent was in the room. He'd smelled her in the hall, of course, but then they'd all passed that way hours before. Logan sighed and stalked off to find the kitchen in Stark's house. Just because the man didn't drink anymore didn't mean he was a bad host. Surely the man had beer stashed somewhere.


	23. Chapter Twenty Two

**Chapter Twenty Two ****  
****Tony Stark's Home, Los Angeles, California****  
****December 16, 0001 hours**

Liam lay in his loaned bed, carefully tucked into the sheets, trying not to move, and staring at the ceiling. Stark's butler Jarvis certainly had a deft hand when it came to bandaging injuries. Liam had taken the worst of it out of their group. Laura's healing factor had cleaned her up in no time, and Kurt hadn't gotten much damage other than a skinned elbow. Logan and Piotr hadn't fought at all, and so Liam had been the only one to receive any actual blows. Though wrapped tightly in clean white gauze, his left side throbbed and ached, and he was pretty sure that at least a few of his ribs sported greenstick fractures. Also, Jarvis had complimented him on the lovely shade of purple they were turning.

Jubilee was painfully stronger than she looked, and she knew how to hit someone in the right spots.

Liam still didn't know the whole deal between she and Logan, though he suspected it was more than Piotr had explained, or perhaps more than the Russian knew. Logan didn't just look at Jubilee like a daughter. There was more there. Liam was willing to be there had been feelings of a more romantic nature involved on both sides. He supposed he'd probably never know, though.

Stark had his man…or his shadowy organization's even shadowy-er branches, and so Liam's job was just about done. Logan had his daughter back. Both his daughters, really. He'd be headed back to New York soon. Liam regretted that. As much craziness as the X-Men brought into his life, they understood him in a fundamental way that his friends didn't. In a way his friends couldn't.

Plus, he'd finally managed to meet a woman who knew all about him and still accepted him. The facts of what he'd done in the military, and the fact that he was a mutant meant next to nothing to her. Odd as she was, she was the best part about the whole debacle. He regretted her leaving most of all.

It was with these thoughts flowing through his head that he began to fall asleep. He was verging on true unconsciousness when a sigh, right next to his ear, brought him startlingly back awake.

He found Laura lying next to him in the bed, curled up right next to him, looking down from where her head was propped in her hand, smiling. She'd managed to sneak into his room, crawl into the bed, and snuggle up so close to him that he felt her all the way down his body, all without making a sound or disturbing the lightly dozing Army Ranger.

For several moments Liam just lay there, pondering the implications of that fact. She stared back at him, and her smile turned slightly proud, as if she could read the thoughts flashing behind his eyes. She broke the silence between them first.

"Hello."

"Um…hi." Liam replied. "Not, uh, not that I'm complaining, but what are you doing?"

She gave him a slightly confused look, like she thought he was putting her on.

"Lying in bed with you, watching you sleep. I would have thought that much would have been obvious."

Liam rolled his eyes and smirked.

"Well, yes. It is obvious. What I mean was, why are you lying in bed with me, watching me sleep?"

She nodded in understanding.

"I was unable to sleep. Too wound up. Too tense. I thought I might come in here and release some tension with you." she said, matter of factly.

Liam blinked.

"Oh. I mean…oh." He muttered. "I don't think that…well, I just-"

It was Laura's turn to roll her eyes.

"Shut up, Liam. Don't be such a prude. " she said, grinning. "It'is just sex. It does not have to mean anything."

Liam glanced down, shyly.

"Well, but-" he began.

"But what? We are two young, healthy mutants who find each other attractive. At least, I find you attractive. Do you…do you not think I am? Is there something wrong with me?" She asked, rolling away from him.

It wasn't until she did moved that he realized she was completely naked. So she'd not only snuck in, crawled in bed, and curled up next to him, she'd also managed to disrobe. His estimation of her stealthy skills went up a few notches as he realized that he should probably answer her.

"No. No. Nothing wrong at all. In fact, there's everything right." he said. "I find you very attractive."

"Then what's the problem?" she asked, and then something seemed to occur to her. "Are you…um, functional? Everything works?"

As she spoke, she moved her hand under the sheets, and danced her fingers along the length of his favorite appendage. He gasped, and immediately regretted it, as his ribs groaned in protest. He'd expected to find her hands rough and calloused, being a woman of action as she was. He was pleasantly surprised to find that her skin was as smooth and soft as any he'd ever felt.

"Ah. Yes. It works." she said, not letting go of him.

"Uh…" Liam groaned. "I'm not really sure-"

"Oh, be quiet." she said, leaning down and silencing him with a kiss.

Her lips were soft, yet demanding against his, and even though she pushed against his ribs as she pressed her body back against his, he didn't argue. Neither did the parts of his body she was still rubbing against. His arms instinctively wrapped around her, and pulled her close. He felt her smile into the kiss as his eyes closed. Her tongue slid across his lips, and he opened his mouth to meet it with his own. After a few moments she pulled away, and he had to force himself not to follow.

"Do you have any more stupid excuses or questions?" she asked, smirking at him.

Liam smiled.

"Well, I'm sure I could think of a few more if you it keep silencing me like that." he said.

She smiled and let him pull her back in for another kiss. This time she let him take the lead, slipping his tongue into her mouth as she pushed the covers down to put her skin against his. With her free hand she grabbed a handful of his hair and forced his head to the side as she kissed her way along his jaw up to his ear.

"Do not move." she whispered, moving the occupied hand up into his field of vision.

Two gleaming silver claws slowly extended themselves from between her fingers, and she looked at him evilly.

"Not an inch." she said.

He nodded, and she slid her claws lightly along his skin, leaving not even the slightest mark. When she reached the edge of his boxers, she switched to the dull side of the blades, and kept going, slicing the thin material down his legs with a flick of her wrist. Liam heard rather than saw her claws retract, a soft _slick_ sound. She took hold of the now loose fabric and pulled, and it came away in one piece, leaving him naked except for the bandages around his ribs.

"How bad does it hurt?" she asked, her voice filled with promises of delicious things to come.

"Not that bad." he said, sliding one hand up to release her grip on his hair.

He rolled onto his side so that he lay facing her, pushing her down onto her back as he slid his hands up her thighs, across her stomach. He kissed her this time, as his fingers crossed her breast, reaching up to brush her already stiff nipple. She reached around and grabbed the back of his neck, forcing his mouth down to her throat, letting out a satisfied gasp as he licked, kissed, and bit his way down toward her collarbone. She ran one hand up through his hair, and raked the other one up his back. Liam was pretty sure she'd drawn blood already, but he wasn't about to complain.

She guided his mouth down her chest, to her nipple, forcing it (not unwillingly) into his mouth. He brushed his lips over it, teasing it with his tongue, and then nibbling on it gently, tugging with his teeth. She let out an actual moan, and he couldn't help but smile. That was one of his favorite sounds in the entire world.

"Harder." she whispered, already grinding herself against him.

He bit down, sucking her nipple into his mouth hard enough that if she didn't have an advanced healing factor, she'd be bruised in the morning. Her hips bucked up off the bed, and her legs wrapped around his waist. She held on tight, squeezing his ribs, and forcing the air from his lungs.

This, of course, caused shooting pain all through his chest and back, and made him let go, half collapsing on top of her. She immediately loosened her legs, and propped herself up on her elbows, staring down at him with one raised eyebrow.

"Already?" she asked.

Liam rolled off of her, and lay gently back in the bed. He put a hand to his ribs, carefully testing to see if any of them had actually broken.

"Ow." he wheezed.

She put a hand to her mouth, as if horrified…or maybe stifling a laugh. He couldn't tell which.

"Oh, that's right! Normal people are so breakable." she said. "Cute."

Yeah. She was definitely laughing at him. Liam gave her a look that wasn't entirely pleasant, though he couldn't keep the smile out of his expression. He lay there breathing carefully for a few moments.

"Do you want me to make it better?" she asked, leaning close.

Liam glanced over at her, raising one eyebrow.

"I'm honestly not sure." he said. "I think so."

"I have many skills. Assassination, infiltration, all manner of sabotage. In all things, I have to get close to a target. I have more ways of doing that than anything else." she said softly. "I'm very talented at it."

Liam wasn't really sure where she was going with the conversation, but it certainly seemed to be a mood killer. He said so.

"Um. Okay, but I think maybe we could leave the killing, infiltrating, sabotaging parts out?"

She gave him an indulgent look.

"I can make you orgasm sixty seven different ways, all with varying intensities and speeds." she said.

Liam's eyes tried to fall out of his head. Not because of the enormity of her statement, but because he absolutely believed her beyond a shadow of a doubt. He nodded slowly.

"What do you say we try the least painful method first?"

She grinned and moved to throw one leg over his thighs, and slowly kissed her way down his body, until she was level with his hip. She kept her hands on his stomach, and slid her tongue along his shaft. Up and down she went, licking, nipping, kissing, sucking. Finally she drew his head into her mouth, and started moving it in and out, though she kept her hands away from it, kneading his stomach muscles like a cat. He groaned with the pleasure of it all, and for once, he didn't care about the pain in his ribs. He tried to take her hands and pull her upwards, but she forced his arms onto the bed, her fingernails scratching bloody trails down his forearms, holding him down. She looked up and smiled at him through a curtain of hair.

"I'm not done yet." she said, her breath soft and warm on his skin.

She resumed her movements, making his eyes roll back in his head, and his head press back into the pillow as his hips arched skyward. She began to growl, or purr, or hum, deep in her chest. Liam couldn't tell which, but he didn't honestly care. The vibrations of her voice sent amazingly strong, almost painfully so, waves of sensation through his body.

"Oh god!" he moaned, his toes flexing involuntarily. "Fuck me."

"If you insist." she said, turning him loose.

She carefully moved up to sit astride his lap, and, again without her hands, moved him into position. Liam was pleasantly surprised to find that she was already…well, ready. She slid slowly, carefully, down along the length of his shaft, flexing her internal walls as she moved. Liam's teeth ground together and his jaw flexed, as he moved his hands to her hips, pushing her down harder to sit all the way against his body. He took a deep breath, and let it out slowly.

"It doesn't hurt? Me moving faster?" she asked.

Liam thought about it for a moment, and smiled at her.

"A little pain never hurt anybody." he said.

She actually laughed, and planted her palms on his chest, slowly rocking her hips back and forth. Liam grinned, and started moving his body in time with hers, sliding in and out agonizingly slowly. She kept moving long enough to ensure that she wasn't going to hurt him, and then sped up, digging her nails into his chest to keep her position. Liam pressed his lips together, determined not to make a sound, as he felt the blood slowly seeping out of his skin. He kept his hands on her waist, holding her close as she moved against him. A soft gasp escaped her lips, and he opened his eyes to look into hers, but his gaze was drawn to the door.

It was open.

And Logan was standing there, staring at him, slightly openmouthed.

Her father was watching them have sex.

FUCK!

"Oh, shit!" Liam said, sitting up quickly, trying to wrap the sheets around himself and Laura, though it didn't really help that much.

"Logan! Hi, um. I was just, uh...We were, um, well…fuck." Liam sighed. "No! That's not what I meant. What I meant to say was…um…Shit. Fuck me."

"Wow. This ain't awkward at all. I guess I shoulda knocked. I was…well, I just-" Logan began.

"I couldn't sleep either." said Laura, casting a glance over her shoulder, and Liam definitely caught the "Go away vibe" she was sending.

"Oh. Right…I'm, uh…well." Logan stammered. "Yeah. You two kids, uh…you know. Have fun."

The door closed behind him, and Laura turned back to the matter at hand. She began moving against him again, but for the moment, all he could do was lay there.

"What's wrong?" she asked, a bit breathlessly. "Should I move on to a more extreme method of making you-"

"No, no." Liam cut her off. "It's…it's more than good. It's wonderful, but…don't you feel even a little awkward?"

She shook her head.

"He's a practical man. He understands." she said. "And even if he doesn't, it's not my problem. He can go be conflicted by himself."

Liam nodded, even though he really didn't understand. He was willing to let it go.

"So…where were we?" he asked, smiling.

"Let me show you."

She did, several times, over the next several hours, until neither of them could move, and they lay together, tangled in a sticky, sweaty mess. Liam passed out with her still making pleased sounds as she collapsed onto his chest. He couldn't even feel his ribs anymore as sleep claimed him.

When he woke up the next morning, he was alone, still sticky, not so sweaty. There were two cards on the bedside table. One was from Jarvis, requesting his presence at a brunch meeting with Stark, and the other was from Laura.

"_Liam,_

_Thank you for a most enjoyable evening. I'd like to do that more often._

_Laura"_

As morning after notes went, it was one of the best he'd ever received. Hell, it was the only one he'd ever received, but he couldn't imagine a better one. He went into the private bathroom that was attached to the bedroom, and took a quick shower, now aching even more than he had before Laura had snuck into his room.


	24. Chapter Twenty Three

**Chapter Twenty Three **

**Tony Stark's Home, Los Angeles, California**

**December 16, 0730 hours**

Liam followed the scent of freshly baked goods and cooking bacon and eggs to the large formal dining room, where Jarvis was overseeing a veritable platoon of cooks and waiters, setting out breakfast foods on a long buffet table.

"Ah, Mister Kynde. Please, do come in, and help yourself." Jarvis said.

"Thanks, Jarvis. And it's just Liam." Liam said, picking up a plate and surveying the bounty at the tables.

He wound up with a ham and cheese omelette, a few pineapple slices, and a croissant. He moved off away from the tables and Jarvis showed him into the main dining room, where Stark, Logan, Laura, Kurt, Piotr, and a redheaded woman sat, all eating breakfast.

"Uh, morning." Liam said, giving a small wave and moving to sit next to Laura. "Sorry I'm late."

Stark waved a hand dismissively and shook his head.

"Nonsense. We were just sitting here, eating and talking. We haven't come to any business yet. Have a seat." he said. "I was actually just asking Logan if he'd be taking you back to New York with him."

Liam paused with a bit of croissant halfway to his mouth.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, kid, we was talking, and the X-Men could always use a bit of military discipline. You've got skills that the kids comin' up through Xavier's school could use." Logan said, chewing on a rather large bite of steak. "There might even be a spot on the team for ya eventually."

Kurt nodded enthusiastically.

"Yah, yah. You could come live at the school like the rest of us. Gain better mastery of your powers. Act as an advisor." he said, emphasizing each point with his toast. "It's not a bad gig."

Piotr nodded.

"Of course, you have to deal with all the crazy people coming to blow up the school. Or kill us all. Or giant robots." he said.

"Don't forget about the normal sized robots." Laura said, not looking up from her scrambled eggs.

"Those too." Piotr added.

"And guys in armor." Stark said.

This earned him a look from everyone at the table. He paused, glancing around.

"Well, not me." he said. "Obviously. I'm just saying…don't discount the armored guys."

Logan glanced slowly away from Stark.

"Right. Armored guys. But seriously. You're welcome ta come back with us, if ya want."

"Alternatively, you could stay here and work for me. I could use a man like you in my Court. And that's Court with a capital C." Stark said. "Right now all I've got are superheroes. We need some new blood around here, and I could use another Bishop. Jubilee's the only Bishop I've got."

Liam just stared for a long moment, but turned when he heard a female voice behind him.

"Come on, boss. You aren't trying to replace me already are you?"

Liam found Jubilee, Angelo, and the unnamed member of Stark's Court entering the room with plates of food. He glanced back at Stark, who just smiled at the newcomers, and caught sight of Logan's scowl.

"Mornin', Sparkplug." he growled. "Yer lookin' good fer a dead chick."

She just shrugged and moved around to where he sat, laying a kiss on top of his head.

"What do you want me to say? Mister Stark needed an X-Man on his team to teach him how our kind operates. I had a chance to do something good, really good, and I took it." she said, sitting down next to Logan. "I just had to die to get it done. If I told you I was going to leave the X-Men to join the Hellfire Club, would you have let me go?"

Logan grumbled something about her being right, and pulled her close in a one armed hug, planting a kiss on her head.

"How are you this morning, kid?" Jubilee asked, Liam. "Not hurt too bad, I hope?"

"Uh, yeah. Seriously. Ouch." Liam said, pointing to his ribs. "Where'd you learn to hit like that?"

"I had a good teacher." she said smiling, and jerked her head at Logan, who just shrugged and took another bite of his steak.

Liam sighed and shook his head, finally eating his bite of croissant.

"I'm tired, hurt, and more than a little confused, to be honest." he said.

"Welcome to being an X-Man." she said, and Kurt and Piotr chuckled their assent. "You gonna be one for reals? Go back to New York and play superhero?"

"This is…this is a lot to take in. Like, huge life changing decisions over breakfast? Seriously?" Liam asked, sipping some orange juice.

"That's the life, son. Sometimes you have to make life changing decisions in a split second." Stark said, shrugging. "Now that you're a part of the big bad real world, and now that the rest of the Hellfire Club's leaders have seen your face, believe me, you [i]are[/i] a part of it, you have to make some tough choices and decisions about who you side with."

"Granted, but this time we ain't tryin' ta make ya choose over breakfast. Just givin' ya options." Logan said.

"Oh, yes. Of course. The invitation is open ended on my part as well." Stark said nodding. "Just keep in mind that now that you are a part of our world, you have enemies. You might not even know them, but you do."

Liam snorted.

"I'm used to having enemies. I was Special Forces, and now I'm hired to find out things people don't want me to know. I get paid to make enemies." he said, taking another bite of his food. "Enemies aren't new to me. I'm just not used to having them be super villains."

He turned to Laura and nudged her.

"What do you think?"

She looked at him for a long moment, and then smiled.

"You'd do well both places. You'd do good things both places. You have friends both places." She said. "I can't be a deciding factor in your decision, though. I can't promise any kind of relationship when we get back, though a continuation of us having sex is likely."

Liam blushed and glanced furtively at Logan, then away.

"Well, yeah. I mean, uh…I just wanted to know what you thought." He muttered.

"Well, that's kind of…horrifically embarrassing. Now that it's out of the way, take some time and think it over." Stark said, nibbling another bite of his omelet. "I've got some things to attend to today, like getting yo upaid for the work you did for me, but I'm planning on having you all as my guests for a proper dinner tonight. Nothing fancy. No need to dress. And if I'm not mistaken, Logan and his crew are heading out in the morning, correct?"

He glanced at Logan who nodded.

"Yup. We gotta be getting' back ta the school. Let everybody know what's going on, and start the search for our other student who was out here." Logan said, glancing at Laura. "Ya seen what happened to him?"

She shrugged.

"When I was captured, the last thing I saw was that they knocked him out, and left him as we drove away." She said. "Before they caught up with us, though, he told me that he wanted to leave the life. Try to find something normal."

Logan nodded.

"Well, we'll find him anyway. See if he's okay."

Silence fell over the breakfast table for a long moment, as everyone went on eating, but Liam broke the quiet.

"I'll go."

Everyone paused, and looked to him.

"What's that, kid?" Jubilee asked.

"I'll go. To New York, that is." he said. "I'll be a part of the school."

"Nobody's sayin' ya have ta make that choice now, bub." Logan said, raising a cautionary hand."Ya can take some time ta-"

"No. I don't need it. This feels right." Liam said. "Besides, I find people for a living, right? I can be of use to you guys for a while, and if it doesn't work out, I can just come back here. No real risk there."

Logan shrugged.

"Alright. Good." Logan said, nodding, and going back to his food.

Liam glanced around and found Kurt giving him a discreet thumbs up, and Piotr smiling softly.

"Welcome to the X-Men, Liam." Laura said. "I sincerely hope you don't die during your time with us."

Liam rolled his eyes, but grinned. He had a feeling that her statement was about as normal as his life could be expected to be from now on. Logan sighed deeply, and spoke.

"Now we just gotta get you a costume."

"Say what?"

END


End file.
